


Fate/love live

by TurtleGenetics



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: And the Other Idols That No One Cares About, Aquors as Masters, F/F, Fateverse/Nasuverse AU, No Fate Characters, Probably ooc, μ's as Servants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 20:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 42,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13348833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurtleGenetics/pseuds/TurtleGenetics
Summary: Uchiura: a quiet, nondescript seaside town. Under its quaint and serene surface, a centuries-old ritual is about to begin. This is the story of the Uchiura Holy Grail War.Personal website for original works inbio.





	1. Prologue: Day -1—Setting the Stage

“No.”

Chika’s shoulders slumped. You patted her on the back in an effort to comfort her, but to no avail.

“But… but why?”

The student council president, Dia Kurosawa, put her hand to her forehead. Her frustration was evident. _What will it take to get it through this dense girl’s head?_

“Do you have any idea how much work it takes to become a school idol? This isn’t some dumb activity that you can just start on the fly. A school idol club requires commitment,” she used her eyes to scan Chika’s slightly pudgy frame, “among other things.”

Chika was not ignorant of the president’s wandering eyes. She covered herself with her arms with mock shock. She was about to open her mouth to utter a witty retort, but felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Chika, just drop it,” You said with a sympathetic smile.

Chika looked back at her best friend, ready to refuse, but closed her mouth after seeing the look in You’s eyes. Instead, Chika turned around, facing the president. To Dia’s surprise, she took a deep bow.

“Sorry about wasting your time, Miss President. I… swear that I’ll never bring it up again.” And with that, the duo left.

“Don’t worry, Chika. We’ll find a way, even if it isn’t at school…” Dia heard You’s voice say as the sound of the two second years walking down the hallway faded away.

Dia’s sighed. It had been a rough day, and it never made her feel good to reject a club application, especially when the applicants were so bright-eyed and full of hope.

A voice echoed in the room, one that only Dia could hear. _“Are you sure you made the best choice, Master?”_

Dia rubbed her temples. “They don’t know my reasons, and they may hate me, but after what happened at Otonokizaka…” She straightened her back, yelling resolutely, “I will never allow a school idol club to form here!”

The voice giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Dia spat, annoyed at the voice for having taken the wind out of her sails.

 _“Nothing in particular. It’s just that,”_ the voice sighed, as if a save of nostalgia had just washed over it, _“at this very moment, I’m getting the strangest sense of déjà vu.”_

* * *

 

You had seen Chika in a depressed state many times before. Usually, Chika would come out of her slump relatively quickly, ready to move on to her next big half-baked plan. If Chika stayed bummed out for an unusually long time, it was usually curable with a healthy dose of mikan oranges.

This time, however, was different. Chika was not depressed; she was absolutely _devastated_.

“C’mon Chika,” You begged in vain, waving a mikan around the bundle of blankets on Chika’s bed, hoping that the wafted scent of the fruit would coax her out, “you can’t stay in there forever.”

“I want to stay in here and die!” came the muffled reply.

You sighed. As much as she admired her best friend’s stubbornness, it really got on her nerves sometimes.

 _No,_ You reassured herself, _it’s not Chika’s fault. She could never annoy me._ _No, this is the student council president’s fault._ You felt her hands clench into fists involuntarily. _That damned Dia Kurosawa…! I’ll… I’ll hurt her! I’ll kidnap her and lock her away, where she’ll never hurt my precious Chika again! Then I’ll hurt her! First, I’ll pull out her nails, then her teeth, then her hair. And then…!_

You pinched herself, horrified by her thoughts. _What is happening to me? Where are these thoughts coming from?_

You Watanabe was generally considered a very sweet, happy-go-lucky girl. She liked swimming, uniforms, and her best friend Chika. Some people may say that she liked Chika a bit _too_ much. But You ignored these claims. After all, was it so wrong for her to care about a friend that had never failed to be by her side?

But recently, that had changed. A voice whispered in her head, one that was not her own.

 _"She’s yours, You Watanabe. She’s yours and you must protect her with all of your being. Keep her close and eliminate all those who try to get closer, because she is_ yours. _"_

* * *

 

Ruby Kurosawa was, to say the least, worried about her big sister.

“Bad day at school today, Sis?” she asked, concern evident on her face.

Dia sighed, the long exhale confirming Ruby’s suspicions. “Had to turn down another club application,” she mumbled, “one for a school idol club.”

“Oh…” Ruby understood immediately. Both her sister and she were huge fans of school idols. Watching girls around their age reach out for their dreams and try to become something at such a young age was so inspiring to the both of them. And yet, after that incident…

“Ruby knows why you did it, Sis. Don’t worry, you didn’t make a mistake. You were just trying to protect them.”

Dia smiled slightly, patting Ruby on the head. It seemed that Ruby’s words had put the normally cold and uptight student council president at ease.

“I know, it’s just…” Dia trailed off, rubbing her right wrist uncomfortably: a habit that Ruby had begun to notice recently in her sister. A nervous tick, perhaps? Or rather, could it be an unconscious show of guilt?

Ruby climbed into Dia’s lap. “Ruby will help you bear the responsibility, Sis. Ruby may not be the Kurosawa heir, but Ruby will do all that Ruby can do to help.”

Dia wrapped her arms around Ruby, pulling her into a deep hug. She let her hand move away from her wrist, the place where the Kurosawa Magic Crest, the symbol of her sisterly betrayal, was etched into her skin and drawn onto her soul. “Please Ruby,” Dia mumbled into her little sister’s hair, “help me get through this.”

A rare moment of weakness for the proud student council president. Ruby smiled, tracing the blood-red Command Spells on Dia’s right hand. “Ruby will do her Rubesty.”

* * *

 

Despite her butler’s pleading, Mari Ohara boarded the helicopter.

“Please, Young Miss,” the butler begged, “don’t go! It is far too dangerous!”

Mari took another step into the helicopter.

“Please!”

Mari turned around, an impish grin on her face. She raised her right hand and turned it so that its backside was facing towards the butler, showing off the Command Spells that adorned her skin.

“The Holy Grail is calling me and I cannot refuse!” she exclaimed, nothing but excitement in her voice.

“But, Young Miss…!”

“Remember that the Oharas are one of the Three Founding Families,” Mari cut him off. “I cannot refuse the call of the Grail even if I wanted to.”

“But…!”

“Plus,” Mari looked down, now a hint of melancholy in her voice, “it has been far too long since I have been in Uchiura.”

Her butler sighed. “I understand, Young Miss. I completely accept that you want to go back to your old town, see your old friends. It is completely understandable.”

Mari nodded. “Exactly! I’m glad that you see-”

“But!” her butler exclaimed, interrupting her, “can you not plan a visit at any other time?! The Holy Grail War is a matter of life or death, not an excuse to go visit old friends!”

“You can’t stop me from going.”

“No, I cannot,” her butler conceded, “but I can convince you to stop yourself before you make a foolish decision.”

Mari tapped the helicopter pilot on the shoulder, signaling that she was ready. He nodded.

“I’ll consider your words.”

The pink helicopter’s doors began to slide shut.

“Please, Young Miss! Don’t go!” her butler made one last desperate attempt at persuasion.

The whirring of the blades started whipping up the air around them. The helicopter began rising off of the ground, and Mari decided to wave down at her butler through the side window. “Shiny!”

She watched as her butler fell to his knees, despairing that he could not stop her. She paid him no mind; one simple butler had no right to speak to the heir of the Ohara clan.

_Kanan, Dia: I hope you’re ready. I’m coming home._

* * *

 

“I’m dying, Kanan.”

Kanan Matsuura gripped her grandfather’s hand tightly. The last few months had been hard on the old man. Illness had consumed his entire being, leaving him feeble and bedridden. He had hardly been able to do anything himself. Kanan had taken it upon herself to take care of the atelier in his stead. The Matsuura family atelier was disguised as a diving shop on the offshore island Awashima, so she had been unable to attend school and take care of it at the same time. Not that she needed a high school education; learning to become a proper magus was a far more rewarding use of her time.

The old man coughed, a terrible sound, as if something was trying to claw its way out of his throat. “Kanan.”

“Yes, Grandfather?”

“The Matsuura dream,” he coughed again, “it’s up to you now, my dear. I can’t do much more than this.”

Kanan let go of his hand. He placed it on her chest, shaking the entire time. Kanan closed her eyes, feeling the bond that her grandfather and her shared, one not only of blood, but of ideals as well. The bond of the Matsuura clan, tracing back over five hundred years.

“It is finished.”

Kanan glanced at the palm of her left hand. Sure enough, the Magic Crest imprinted there had expanded to a great size, reaching all the way across her palm to the tips of her fingers.

“It may not be as vast a pool of spells as the Crests of the other two Founding Families, considering that it had to skip a generation,” her grandfather said, voice now holding a deathly calmness to it, “but it is the greatest gift that I can leave to you, my dear.”

Kanan bowed her head solemnly. “Thank you, Grandfather.”

Her grandfather managed a chuckle. “I said that this was the greatest gift I could leave, not the last.”

Kanan looked up, faced now filled with confusion.

“Look on my desk. There is a brown package, an artifact that was recently excavated from a demolished apartment complex in Tokyo.” The old man smiled, placing his shaking hand on her right one.

Kanan’s eyes widened. “Grandfather… You don’t mean…!”

“Yes, my dear,” her grandfather confirmed, “it is a catalyst I specifically had prepared for you. With it, you should be able to summon the most powerful Idol Spirit.”

Kanan was speechless. When had Grandfather managed to make all of these preparations? Was it recently? Had he been sneaking around, behind her back, using up the last of his remaining energy to give her the best chance that he could at fulfilling the Matsuura dream? Kanan felt tears welling up in her eyes.

“Don’t cry, my dear. I don’t want the last thing I see to be your tearful face. Please, smile for me, one last time.”

Kanan nodded, wiping the tears away from her face. “Yes, Grandfather.” She smiled the best she could, ignoring the fact that tears continued to stream from her eyes. Reality was finally catching up with her. Her grandfather, the only true family she had ever had in her life, was going to die. Right then and there. In front of her eyes. And she was powerless to stop it.

The hand on top of hers went limp, falling away, lifeless. Immediately, there was a small flash of pain. Kanan looked down at the back of her right hand, confirming the presence of the Command Spells. She stood up, closing the old man’s eyes and locking the door behind her.

 _I swear to you, Grandfather,_ Kanan silently promised, eyes now dry, _I swear that I will do for you what my father could not._

* * *

 

_Knock, knock, knock._

“Yoshiko dear, dinner’s ready!”

No response. Nothing but silence from the closed bedroom door.

_Knock, knock, knock._

“Yoshiko, did you hear me?”

Still nothing.

The woman sighed. Her daughter was being stubborn again. She couldn’t remember the last time Yoshiko had listened to her.

“If you don’t come out on the count of three, I’m coming in.”

Zero. Zilch. Not a peep.

“One, two…”

The door creaked open, just a slight opening, revealing a single pink eye.

“It’s Yohane, mortal. Refer to me as such.”

“Dinner’s ready.” Her mother said, nonchalantly. She had long since gotten used to dealing with Yoshiko’s chuunibyou delusions.

“Fallen angels such as I derive no pleasure from the bread of man.” A loud grumble. Yoshiko blushed. “Er, I’ll be down in a moment, Mom.”

Her mother nodded. Looking into Yoshiko’s darkened room, she noticed the only source of the light: the computer monitor. A pentagram was displayed on the screen.

“Is she up to her occult stuff again?” Yoshiko’s father asked as his wife descended the stairs.

“Indeed. I wonder what has gotten her so obsessed with the occult recently. She used to be so afraid of the stuff…”

Yoshiko Tsushima closed her bedroom door and sighed.

 _Did Mom see what I was doing?_ Yoshiko looked at the computer monitor. _Well, even if she did, there’s no way that she knows the true extent of it…_

Yoshiko walked over to her bed, flipping over a pillow to reveal an old, leather-bound book. A single word was scrawled across the front: _Tsushima_.

Yoshiko had found the mysterious book when her mother forced her to clean the attic a little over two years again. Up until that moment, the occult and mysticism was a great fear of hers. She had always hated the stories of demons and blood rituals that her father told her, but she always listened intently.

“ _These stories are the last remaining heirloom of our family, Yoshiko,”_ he had said. _“These are the stories that our family has passed down orally for generations.”_

Why did her family’s heirloom have to be such scary stories? But Yoshiko always felt strangely drawn to them, despite her fear. There was something deeper, something more.

Then, she found the book. Upon first touching the cover, Yoshiko felt a chill run up her spine. _This book, it’s evil!_

She opened it to the first page.

And so began the self-study of one Yoshiko Tsushima, the first Tsushima magus in over three hundred years.

* * *

 

“Hanamaru!”

The brown-haired girl sweeping the temple grounds turned around at the sound of her best friend calling out to her.

“Ruby! What are you doing here, zura?” Hanamaru Kunikida responded. She then looked up, noticing the dark night sky. “Isn’t it a bit late?”

Despite the question, Hanamaru was not in any way bothered by the visit from Ruby. It was always a pleasant surprise to get to talk with Ruby outside of school, especially since Hanamaru did not have access to a phone or the Internet.

“Hanamaru, your mother is the overseer for the upcoming Holy Grail War, right?”

Hanamaru simply nodded in response.

“Then,” Ruby asked, “what does she say about the plan?”

Hanamaru sighed. “She already did not like us being friends, zura. She was afraid of the conflict of interest that could occur if the daughter of the overseer and a magus were found out to be in close relations.”

“So, what you’re saying is,” Ruby said, somewhat deflated, “that you’re too scared to talk to her about it?”

Hanamaru nodded.

“Then, have you told her about those?”

Ruby pointed at her bandaged right hand. It was bound tightly, each finger expertly covered by white linen so as to still allow full mobility while ensuring that not even a bit of skin was showing.

“M-Maru can’t, zura. Maru can’t even imagine what she would do…”

“You can’t hide it from her forever. Does she even believe the story?”

“Maru think she’s suspects us,” Hanamaru whispered, looking around to make sure her mother was not nearby eavesdropping, “but she accepts it for now. That’s another reason she doesn’t want us to be friends anymore, Ruby. She thinks your family is cursed, zura.”

Ruby giggled. “I think your family is the cursed one her, having one of its daughters qualify for the Holy Grail War.”

Hanamaru pouted. “That’s mean, Ruby. You know that everything the Holy Grail War stands for is the bane of Maru’s family, zura.”

“And yet,” Ruby replied, “you are plotting to betray your family for me.”

Hanamaru blushed. “Well, when you put it that way, zura…”

Ruby giggled again, patting Hanamaru’s bandaged hand lovingly. “You’re mom is going to figure out that you’ve got Command Spells eventually. Even if she doesn’t, when you summon your Servant…”

“But what should Maru do? No, what _can_ Maru do?” Hanamaru began tearing up.

“Come live with Dia and me, at least until the War is over.” Ruby put a finger to Hanamaru’s lips before she could protest. “I know your mom doesn’t like us, and it would look suspicious to the other magi, but do you really have a choice? The temple is neutral grounds; you can’t summon a Servant here without invoking the full wrath of the Church.”

“But… can Maru really go and live with you, zura? Would you like Hanamaru around?”

Ruby nodded. “Nothing would make me happier. Your mom can’t enter our atelier by Church law. Even if she ignored that, our Bounded Field is sure to keep her out. You’ll be safe. You’ll be hidden. You’ll be…” Now Ruby was blushing as well, “...with me.

"...So, will you come?”

Hanamaru jumped onto the other girl, the broom clattering to the floor, forgotten. Tears of joy streamed down her face.

_“Yes!”_

* * *

 

Chika Takami threw off the blankets that had been covering her. The room was completely dark, only lit by the light of the moon.

_How long have I been out?_

Chika tried to recall the last thing she remembered. _I asked the student council president for permission to start a school idol club. She refused, and then I came home with You._ Chika looked around, finding no sign of her ash-haired best friend. _She must’ve gone home…_

Chika looked for the faint red glow of her digital clock. _11:57 PM… I guess I’ll head back to bed…_

Groggily, she headed towards the nearest bathroom to get ready for bed. Upon switching on the light, she found a mikan orange with a note under it next to her toothbrush.

_Call me when you wake up. -You_

Chika headed straight back to her room and grabbed her phone out of her school bag.

“You’re awake?” You said when she picked up, still sounding half-asleep.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Chika asked sheepishly.

“No, it’s fine. I asked you to call me, after all. Are you okay now?”

Chika nodded.

“...You still there, Chika?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I’m fine.” Chika had momentarily forgotten that phone calls did not capture body language. It was still rare for her to talk with You over the phone, considering how inseparable they were.

“Look, if you really want to start a school idol club,” You yawned loudly, “then I’m sure that we just need to prove that we are actually committed to the idea. If we do that, then there’s no way Miss President can refuse us again.”

_There is. After all, I know why she refused us in the first place._

“Forget it, You. I give up on the club.”

A strange silence followed. When You spoke again, her voice was filled with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay, Chika? It isn’t like you to give up so easily, especially about something you were so gung-ho about earlier.”

“Yes, I’m absolutely, positively sure about this. There’s no reason to go pursue it further. After all… it’s just a stupid dream.” Chika trailed off, mumbling the last part quietly.

“It’s not stupid!” You yelled.

Chika was shocked. Why had You raised her voice? She wasn’t as invested in the idea as Chika was…

“I mean,” You said, voice lower, seemingly calmed down, “it’s your dream, Chika. You shouldn’t call it stupid.”

_Oh, You, but if only you knew. It is stupid. It’s selfish, it’s stupid, and most of all, dangerous._

“I’ll see you tomorrow, You. Sorry for waking you up. Good night,” Chika mumbled.

“Hey, wait! I still wanted to-!” Chika hung up, ignoring You’s frantic protests.

Chika flopped down onto her bed. She wasn’t in the mood to brush her teeth or take a bath. She just wanted to…

_How did Kanan put it? Conceptualize, visualize, realize?_

Chika raised her arm, spreading out her hand, letting the light on the ceiling filter through her fingers. She felt the slightly warm glow of the electric lamp wash over her palm.

_Judging the concept of idolization. Hypothesizing the basic choreography. Duplicating the composition’s tempo and mood. Imitating the skill of its execution. Sympathizing with the experience of its performers. Reproducing the numerous practices. Excelling every Live Show performance._

_“Shine on,”_ Chika whispered.

* * *

 

Riko Sakurauchi stood outside of her new house, praying that her new life in Uchiura would be the calm, peaceful, normal life she had always dreamed of.

“I hope that everything goes well here…”


	2. Chapter 1: Day 0—Abandon All Hope

Chika Takami started the day like she did every other: groggily turning off her alarm clock, walking (bleary-eyed) to her bathroom, brushing her teeth and combing her hair down, patting Shiitake on the head, wearily eating the breakfast her mom had prepared for her, leaving for house, realizing she was still in her pajamas, changing into her school uniform, leaving the house again, and meeting up with You on the way to school. Indeed, it was shaping up to a normal, ho-hum day like any other.

“Didn’t get any sleep?” You asked, pointing out the bags under Chika’s eyes.

Chika nodded. “Ugh, I shouldn’t have stayed up all night.”

You giggled. Despite having been woken up in the middle of the night by Chika, she looked as energetic and refreshed as ever. “Are you sure you’re okay about the club application being rejected? We could try again, you know.”

“I told you last night, it’s fine. We tried, we failed, and that’s the end of it.”

“You never give up this easily, Chika. Are you sure you aren’t getting sick?” You touched her forehead to Chika’s, causing the orangette to slightly blush.

“No, I’m fine, I swear!” Chika reassured her friend, moving away quickly. Was it just her imagination, or did You seem a little disappointed?

Uranohoshi Girls’ High School became visible in the distance.

“I’m always here if you feel like try-”

“I should get to class. Sorry, You,” Chika abruptly interrupted. She rushed off to her class.

_That was an awful excuse. You and I are in the same class! She definitely thinks that something is up!_

To be perfectly honest, Chika did not want to talk about her school idol club proposition. It honestly was one of the most selfish things she had ever tried to started, and even thinking back on it made her cringe.

_Kanan told me what happened. She warned me to never try and get into the idol scene. And yet… And yet…_

And now she was making You worried. How bad of a best friend could she possibly be?

* * *

 

You was drinking herself into oblivion, hoping to drown her sorrows with a sweet beverage. The box of orange juice in her hand shook as she frantically sipped its contents.

“Hello?”

_Does Chika hate me now or something? I couldn’t stand it if she did…_

There was still plenty of time before class started, but Chika had just run off, saying that she had to be early to class. Chika _never_ went to class early!

“Um, excuse me…”

Why did she have to be such a pushy friend? Just because it had always been a secret dream of hers to design cute outfits for idols? To see Chika in an outfit she had designed? To-

She felt a tap on her shoulder. “Excuse me.”

You snapped out of her self-pity. She turned around, seeing an unfamiliar red-haired girl standing behind her, holding a school pamphlet in one hand. Her golden eyes (an unusual shade) betrayed her confusion.

 _Pretty,_ was the first thought that You had. She felt a blush creep onto her face.

“Yes?”

The girl fidgeted. “I’m new to this school and I got a bit lost. Could you tell me where classroom 2-1 is?”

You blinked, then blinked again. “That’s my classroom.”

The girl’s face brightened. “Oh, so we’re classmates!” She extended a hand shyly. “I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to find my way around. I’m Riko, Riko Sakurauchi. I’ll be in your care.”

You took the hand. _So this gorgeous girl is going to be my new classmate?_

 _But wait, that means she’ll be in my class. With Chika._ My _Chika._

A single word flashed through You’s mind: _Thief._

You let go of the girl’s hand.

“Is something the matter?” Riko asked, slightly surprised by the sudden loss of contact.

“We should get to class. The bell’s gonna ring soon. C’mon, follow me.”

Something was up with the gray-haired girl.

Riko could instantly tell that something was wrong. She had finally managed to find somebody who she could ask for directions, and it just had to be somebody who clearly had something on her mind. After talking to her though, it was clear that the girl was the peppy, energetic type. At least that’s what Riko thought.

Riko noticed something as she shook the girl’s hand. The smile had quickly replaced itself with a frown, and the look in the girl’s eyes seemed hollow and unsettling. Then, she abruptly let go of her hand, as if the human contact disgusted her. The rapid change in attitude was shocking, to say the least.

“We should get to class. The bell’s gonna ring soon. C’mon, follow me.”

* * *

 

The girl said that with a completely blank face, in a deadpan, monotone voice that sent a chill down Riko’s spine. The air this girl was giving off was extremely creepy.

She followed the girl around the school, the chattering of the girls in the halls and the general cheery tone settling Riko’s nerves. Maybe this girl was just having a rough day. After all, she did seem to be deep in thought before Riko had gone and bothered her.

 _Oh no, what if she hates me?_ Riko hoped she did not blow her chances of getting a friend right off the bat.

“I never caught your name,” Riko called out.

The girl turned, giving Riko a cold look. “You. You Watanabe.”

 _Yep, she definitely hates me._ Riko concluded.

“We’re here,” You said, walking through an open doorway.

Riko looked inside the classroom. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it just looked so… normal.

 _This is what you wanted, right?_ She asked herself. _A normal school life, away from the “incident” back home?_ This normal school life was what she had come here for.

So why did she feel such a sense of dread?

“Um, You…” Riko started. She was planning to apologize about bothering her earlier.

“Yes, Riko? Is something wrong?” You turned towards her, showing a dazzling smile.

_What? What’s with the sudden change in mood? What’s got her so happy?_

“N-nothing. Forget about it.”

You nodded as the bell rang. Everybody went to their seats, leaving Riko to awkwardly stand by the door.

“Ah, good, you’re here.” Riko heard a voice behind her. She turned to see the teacher. “Come into the classroom and introduce yourself.”

Riko nodded, following the teacher into the classroom.

“Okay, everyone. Let’s introduce our transfer student.”

The whole class looked surprised chattering amongst themselves. _"T_ _ransfer student? At this time of year?"_

Riko walked in, trying to keep her head held high in order to make a good first impression.

“She will be attending our school starting today.”

Riko started her self-introduction. “Excuse me. I transferred from Tokyo’s Otonokizaka High.”

More whispers. _"That school? The one that was in the news a few years back?"_

Riko fidgeted nervously. She should’ve known that, even in a small, remote town like this, rumors would spread. Regardless, she pressed on.

“I’m Riko Sakurauchi. Nice to meet you.”

Silence. Awkward, stilted silence.

Riko gulped. _It’s because I said I was from Otonokizaka, isn’t it…_

“Welcome to the class, Riko!” one person called out.

Riko looked around for the source of the voice. To her surprise, it was You.

“You…”

The teacher, previously looking a bit discomforted by the unusually cold response of her class to the transfer student, looked a bit relieved that somebody had broken the silence. “Oh, you know You, Riko? There’s an empty seat next to her; why don’t you sit there?”

Riko nodded, grateful that she could sit next to somebody she knew. Despite how coldly You had treated her previously, she assumed that the earlier treatment had just been a passing moment of annoyance. You saving her from the awkward silence was proof enough that she was a good person.

Right?

“Well, with that out of the way, let’s call roll.” The teacher went down the list. With every name called, a girl in the class raised her hand or said, “Here!”

“Chika Takami. Chika Takami?” The teacher called out.

No response.


	3. Chapter 2: Day 0—Calm Waters Under a Brewing Storm

“You really shouldn’t be skipping class, Chika.”

Chika rolled her eyes at Kanan. “Look who’s talking.”

Kanan winced. “You know I have a family situation I have to deal with. But you have no excuse. You can’t just ditch school whenever you feel like it.”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Chika retorted.

Kanan shook her head and sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know why I even put up with you.”

“It’s because you’re nice, Kanan, and you would never neglect a friend in need.” Chika deadpanned.

It was obvious to Kanan that Chika was feeling down about something, but she honestly did not want to be dealing with an angsty underclassman at a time like this. She did not have the time.

“If I give you a drink, will you go away?” Kanan said, trying to bargain with the orangette.

Chika sighed. “Fine, I guess, since you _clearly_ don’t want me around.”

An edgy Chika was not something Kanan saw often. In fact, she could only recall one other time that Chika had been in such a bad mood.

“How does a mikan smoothie sound?”

“Fine, sure, whatever. I don’t care.” Chika said, but her eyes were shining. She was clearly trying to keep up the moody persona, but the facade was quickly crumbling.

Kanan hummed as she worked with a knife and blender. She had to admit, it was nice to get a little break from her War preparations. Always being on edge couldn’t be healthy.

“One mikan smoothie, for your drinking pleasure.” Kanan said teasingly, extending her right hand to give Chika the glass.

Only Chika did not take the glass; she grabbed Kanan’s wrist.

_Crap. Crap, crap, crap. I’m an idiot._

“Kanan, what’s that on the back of your hand?”

Kanan bit her lip. “A… scar. I got it while digging around underwater.”

Chika looked skeptical. “It’s rather ornately shaped for a scar.”

“I got lucky. People might just mistake it for a tattoo.”

_Please let go, Chika. Please let go…_

“Shine on,” Chika whispered.

A slight tingling feeling spread across Kanan’s arm, originating from the point where Chika was gripping. Faint orange lines began spreading from Chika’s hand. Kanan struggled to escape Chika’s grasp, but her arm was already beginning to feel numb and weak.

“Chika, stop, let me go!” Kanan yelled.

Chika did not reply, all her focus directed at injecting mana into Kanan’s arm. Kanan felt bad, but she knew what she had to do.

Kanan directed a roundhouse kick towards Chika’s torso. The kick connected, sending Chika flying into a wall, knocking over chairs. Kanan felt a crunch under her foot. She knew that the kick had broken a fair few ribs.

Chika coughed up a little blood. “Why… Kanan… Why… you…”

Kanan walked over to Chika’s crumpled form, placing her hand on the spot where her foot had made contact with her junior’s body. A soft glow emanated from the hand.

Chika coughed, squirming in pain as her broken ribs shifted and grinded, trying to return to their original positions. After a few moments, Kanan felt no more movement under Chika’s skin, and lifted her hand away.

Chika got up, still unsteady from the injury. Despite no longer being physically injured, the incident clearly still took a toll on her.

“Why did you do that, Kanan?”

Kanan pointed towards the sigil on the back of her hand. “Chika, I lied. This isn’t a scar.”

“I could tell that much.”

“No, Chika, you don’t understand. This is huge, much bigger than you could ever imagine. This is a part of an age-old ritual that has been happening for generations.”

“What’s so bad about that?”

“It’s a big deal to us magi,” Kanan shifted to a softer tone of voice. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, Chika. Knowing too much could put you in serious danger.”

“So you’re in danger then?”

Kanan was taken aback. She never really thought about it.

“It… it’s my duty. I will not shy away from it.”

Kanan felt a soft impact, then a slight pressure around her. She looked down in surprise. Her childhood friend was hugging her.

“You don’t have to do this alone. I’m here, I can help. Let me stay by your side.”

Kanan pushed Chika away, shaking her head solemnly. “Chika, I don’t want to see you hurt. The best way you can help me is staying out of this, leaving Uchiura for a while even. I can fight better if I’m not worrying about your safety.”

“Fight?”

Kanan mentally slapped herself. _I just keep making this situation worse, don’t I?_

“Chika, this ritual… It’s a war. A battle between seven magi who are chosen. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but-”

“Will you have to kill them?” Chika interrupted.

Kanan stood speechless for a second, taken aback by the abruptness of Chika’s statement. _This isn’t good. The reality of the situation… It’s really starting to come to me._

“Chika, I-”

“I get it. You don’t want to get me involved, but…” Chika took a deep breath, letting it out in one heavy sigh, “...Don’t die, Kanan. I… I wouldn’t be able to go on if you did.”

“W-wh-what?” A deep blush set into Kanan’s face. Had her underclassman always been this forward?

“Just promise me that you won’t, Kanan. If you do, I will never forgive you.”

* * *

 

 _Today’s been a weird day,_ Riko thought as she walked home.

Not that anything particularly “weird” had happened all day, it was just that Riko was getting incredibly strange vibes from her new friend (?), You. She was… different, to say the least. Riko could feel that, under her bubbly and carefree attitude, something dark was brewing. It made her uneasy.

_I came to Uchiura to escape the weird atmosphere of Tokyo, but it seems that I’ve already involved myself with a troublesome character._

“How do I keep getting into these- Oh! I’m sorry!”

Riko was jolted out of her thoughts when she bumped into a girl. The girl looked Riko up and down. Riko shivered. She felt like she was being stripped and analyzed, like some specimen in a lab.

“No problem,” the girl said, finally looking Riko in the eyes. Riko noted that the girl’s irises were an unusual shade of pink. “Just watch where you’re going next time.” The girl then turned, walking into the building that Riko just noticed they were standing in front of.

_When did we get to an inn?_

_Wait, this inn…!_

Riko looked, not daring to believe it. Sure enough, her new house was right there, next to the inn.

_So that girl is staying next to me? She looked to be around my age… Does she go to Uranohoshi as well? I mean, where else would she go? I didn’t notice whether or not she was wearing the school uniform!_

_...I wonder if we could be friends…_


	4. Chapter 3: Day 1—The Day It All Went to Hell

_The katana-wielding girl was standing with her back turned, chest heaving from her heavy breathing, blue hair swaying in the wind. She had never felt this physically exerted in her life. If only her Master could provide more mana, maybe she could…!_

_“Tired out already? Understandable, considering your weak little Master over there. Although, it is a shame. I didn’t expect Saber to be defeated so easily. Strongest Servant class? How the mighty have fallen.” The gray-haired girl raised her weapon and effortlessly knocked the katana out of the blue-haired girl’s hands. What was the gray-haired girl holding? A lance, or maybe a spear? It looked more like an oversized knitting needle…_

_“Do not count me out yet, Lancer. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” The blue-haired girl raised her left hand. Something was forming in her hand, an amorphous dark blob at first, but almost immediately it began taking a more recognizable shape._

_Lancer narrowed her eyes. “You’re no Saber…”_

_The blue-haired girl turned so that, for the first time, her face was fully visible. Her soft brown eyes contained only worry and urgency. She opened her mouth and pleadingly said…_

“Riko, hurry up and come downstairs! You’ve got school today!”

Riko rolled over onto her stomach, groaning. Had all of that only been a dream? If so, she had been lay off the midnight snacks…

“Riko!”

“Coming!”

Regardless, she still had to get ready for school. What time was it anyway?

A shriek of, “I’m late!” came from the room upstairs. Riko’s mother chuckled as a white and red blur rushed down the stairs and out the door, snatching up a single hard-boiled egg as it sped out.

“I wonder if she’ll realize that I set her clock to be thirty minutes fast.”

* * *

 

You had gotten up early for a morning run. Always the athletic type, she usually turned to exercise in order to clear up her mind. Yesterday’s events still weighed heavily on her mind.

 _That new transfer student… She was pretty._ Too _pretty. I can’t let her and Chika meet._

She rounded the corner without even looking. Her eyes were focused on the ground, deep in thought. Not that she needed to see her surroundings; she had been on this path countless times, so much so that her feet may as well have memorized the route by themselves.

It was this lack of awareness that resulted in the first of many incidents this day.

You honestly had no idea what had happened in those few seconds. Her mind tried desperately to put the events into a coherent, understandable order.

First: the impact. One moment, her eyes were trained on the ground, seeing the gravel road but not actually paying attention to it. The next thing she knew, her eyes were looking up into the sky, a cloudless blue expanse that stretched on forever. It was beautiful, really, but not as beautiful as the shade of red that replaced it.

Second: You’s innate survival instinct kicked it. She grasped upwards, desperate for her fingers to grab something, _anything_ that would help break her fall. When her fingers made contact with a soft surface (cloth maybe?), she held on for dear life. You’s eyes were closed at this point, her body already resigned towards the inevitable impact her back would feel in mere moments.

Finally: the soft sensation on her lips. A tangy, fruity taste that You could not identify. Warm breaths washed over her face her face, each wave coming irregularly due to panic, adrenaline, or some combination of the two. You realized that she had not even felt the impact, but there was an obvious pain in her back, meaning that she had indeed landed as ungracefully as possible. She opened her eyes, slightly afraid of what she would see. Clear blue eyes met soft gold ones.

“What are you two doing in front of my house?” asked the last voice You wanted to hear when she was in such a position, sounding confused and slightly disgusted.

 _Just kill me now,_ You thought, tears streaming from her eyes.

* * *

 

It was a rare occurrence for Chika to be awake so early. In fact, one could even say it was a miracle, an event that could only possibly take place through divine intervention.

Indeed, there had to be some troublesome god at play for Chika to have stumbled upon such an awkward scene the moment she stepped out of her front door.

The red-haired girl that had bumped into her yesterday was on top of You, who was here for who knows why. Maybe she had been out for a morning run and decided to come wake Chika up on the way?

The pair’s position looked incredibly intimate, with the red-haired girl pinning You to the floor. You’s face was covered in tears and she was struggling to escape, but the red-haired girl’s arms formed a cage around her. Next to them, a single peeled hard-boiled egg was lying on the street.

_What kind of contrived romantic comedy scenario did I just walk upon?_

“Need a hand there, You?”

From what Chika could tell, her best friend did her best to frantically nod.

Chika walked up behind the unfamiliar girl, wrapping her arms around the fallen girl’s waist. With a single heave, Chika managed to pull her off of You. You got up instantly, wrapping her arms around her chest in a defensive stance and ran towards Chika. Chika unceremoniously dropped the red-haired stranger to the floor and extended her arms, inviting You into a hug.

“Chika, please forgive me! I-I… I’m tainted!” You wailed.

Chika patted her on the head, trying desperately to calm her down before the neighbors began to complain. The enthusiasm her friend normally displayed seemed to be replaced by only despair.

“Calm down, You. It’s all right. You’re okay.”

“Chika, w-would you still… marry me?”

The corner of Chika’s eye twitched. “What are you even talking about anymore? Calm down, You, you aren’t in a right state of mind.” Chika wasn’t usually the straight man in situations. She did not exactly like playing the role; she much prefered pretending to be an energetic idiot.

_This has quickly turned from somewhat strange to downright nonsensical. Although, if You was able to crack a joke like that, then I’m sure that she’s fine now._

A low groan came from below. Chika looked down.

_Ah, right, this girl’s here too._

Chika squatted down, getting low enough to look the girl over more carefully. She had not gotten a good look yesterday. She was in such a foul mood after the incident with Kanan, but today she was able to dedicate a little bit more of her attention towards the mysterious stranger.

“Pretty” was the first word that came to Chika’s mind. The flowing red hair, the slim and supple frame, her teasable cheeks: Chika immediately realized that this girl was her type.

 _Is she dead? She can’t be, she just made a sound._ Chika poked the girl in the ribs. She lifted up her skirt _(white panties, how pure)_ and even pinched her cheeks. None of these actions elicited any reaction whatsoever.

“Is Riko all right?” a cold voice asked. From the tone of You’s voice, Chika would almost go as far as to say that she hoped the answer was “no.”

“I honestly can’t tell. She’s not dead, but she’s not waking up either.”

_So her name’s Riko, huh?_

“I’ll just carry her to school then. Judging by her uniform, she also goes to Uranohoshi, and going off of her ribbon, she’s also a second year. Is she in our class?”

You nodded. “Chika, I’ll carry her. I’m stronger than you.”

 _Was that fear in her voice? Of what?_ “No, it’s fine. We wouldn’t want the first thing she sees to be you anyway. What if she goes back into shock?”

You’s face had a strange expression: one part offended and another part resigned. She sighed. “We have plenty of time anyway. Let’s get to school; I’ll use one of the pool’s showers to wash the sweat off of me.”

* * *

 

“Wake up, Hanamaru, we’ve got to get to school.”

It was rare for Hanamaru to get up so late, but the combination of an unfamiliar bed and draining magic training had left her whole body aching into the morning, so much so that she doubted she could get out of bed on her own.

“Ruby, help me up please. I don’t think I can get up by myself, zura.”

Ruby helped prop Hanamaru against the headboard. Despite such a simple movement, it took all of Hanamaru’s concentration to keep the bile in the back of her throat from flowing out. It was one thing to start formally learning magic at such an old age, but working Magic Circuits to their absolute limits that they had never even come close to was another matter entirely.

“Can’t we just skip school for a day?”

Ruby shook her head. “I know it hurts, Hanamaru, but we have to go. Sis is gonna have a fit if we don’t.”

 _Figures._ Even in these circumstances, Dia Kurosawa was all about duty and routine.

“Here,” Ruby tried to comfort her, “I’ll help you get dressed.”

* * *

 

Ruby was no stranger to weird sights, but even she was utterly confused by what she saw on her way to school.

Hanamaru and she walked past three girls, two of whom were wearing red ties around the collar of their Uranohoshi uniforms. The one trailing a little ways behind them was wearing a tracksuit, but she was clearly the same age.

_Second years, our upperclassmen._

Ruby did not know their names, but their hair colors were distinctive enough so that she could tell them apart. Red was riding piggyback on Orange, apparently asleep. Walking next to them was Gray, who was sniffling and muttering, “It’s over,” over and over again.

Ruby was about to call out to them when she felt a tug. Hanamaru pulled her behind a tree before the second years could spot them.

“Something tells me we don’t want to make contact with them, zura. I think we should stay back and observe.”

Ruby nodded silently, peering out from behind the tree.

“You, stop mumbling back there.” Orange said. “Try to catch up!”

Gray, apparently named You, perked up at Orange’s voice. “You’ll take me back, Chika?”

Chika sighed. “What are you talking about? We’ve been over this: you did nothing wrong. This was a simple accident that happened because neither of you were paying attention. It’s not really your fault.”

You stood there, voice wavering, and ran towards Chika. “T-thank you!”

Chika recoiled, backing away. “Don’t jump on me! I can’t carry two of you!”

“Huh?” Red stirred. She lifted her head, eyes drooping.

“Oh, Riko, you’re awake now?” Chika said, looking quite happy, possibly because this was her chance to get the girl off of her back.

“Yeah, I’m- Wah?! What are you-?!”

“Calm down.” Chika squatted down, lowering Riko so that she could place her feet on the ground.

“T-thanks.” Riko smoothed out her skirt, looking very flustered. “Who are-” Riko gasped. “The one from yesterday!”

Chika laughed, putting a hand behind her head. “Yeah, sorry about how rude I was. I just had a rough day. I’m Chika, by the way. Chika Takami.”  
“Chika Takami. The one that was absent yesterday?” Riko asked.

“Oh, you’re in our class too? Then you must be the new transfer student.” Chika looked genuinely excited now. “Now I wish I didn’t skip out yesterday.”

“Why’d you-”

“Enough questions for now, Riko! We have to get back to walking now or we’ll be late. I’ll talk to you more when we get to class!”

“Late to… Oh no! How long have I been out! We must be really late by now?”

Chika shot Riko a strange look. “We still have about ten minutes until class starts.”

“But, then, why…” Riko looked down, hissing, _“Mom.”_

Chika chuckled nervously. “I don’t know what’s going on, but all I know is that we need to be on our way. C’mon Riko, You, let’s all walk together.” And off they went.

Ruby turned to face Hanamaru. “What was that all about?”


	5. Chapter 4: Day 1—First Contact

Throughout the school day, You had quietly grit her teeth as she watched Chika and Riko get closer to each other. The two seemed to have hit it off immediately, despite Riko’s obvious apprehension towards the orange-haired girl. For the first time ever, You had seen a true smile on Riko’s face, not just a shy mask, but a smile of genuine mirth and delight.

 _It’s just as I feared._ You thought sourly, drying her hair after a long day at swim practice. _That red-haired vixen is going to replace me as Chika’s best friend. Soon, I’ll be out of the picture entirely. And what then? What will I do without Chika…?_

 _"What indeed?"_ a voice in her mind replied. You was startled. This voice was distinctly not hers: higher pitched, with a cutesy lilt. This voice, the voice that, recently, she had began hearing in her head more and more frequently.

 _Who are you? How are you speaking to me? How did you get in my head?_ You demanded.

A chuckle. _"_ _You want answers? Head to the first years’ floor after you’ve cleaned yourself off, Master."_

 _Master?_ You had hardly done anything that could warrant somebody calling her their master. But she did want answers, and that was why she found herself on the first years’ floor after putting her school uniform back on.

It was late, way past school hours. The sun was just beginning to set. The halls were silent, as pretty much nobody stayed this late after school. Even clubs had gotten out already. It felt like the setting of a horror movie.

“Is anybody there?” You called out to the desolate halls. Silence.

 _This is so creepy._ She walked down the hallway, the only sound being the sharp sound of her shoes making contact with the hard tile floor.

 _"Stop."_ The voice in her head was back. You froze, not daring to move a muscle. _"_ _To your right, there’s a door. Open it and go inside."_ You did as commanded.

The room was small, a storage closet full of unopened boxes. Every floor had one of these, so You assumed that the boxes were filled with the usual school supplies, as well as some extra first-year level textbooks.

_"Move some of those boxes against the left wall."_

“Why?”

_"You’ll know when you find it."_

You moved some boxes carefully, not wanting to accidentally knock anything over. One false move and the entire closet’s contents could come crashing down upon her.

After a few minutes of moving, You noticed something strange: a red mark on the floor. A bit more moving revealed a strange looking circle, drawing completely in red. Next to the circle was a bottle of silverish liquid labeled “Elemental Mercury.”

“W-what is this?” You demanded.

 _"It’s all we need to bring me into this world, You Watanabe."_ The voice sounded excited.

You fell onto her knees. “What are you, some kind of demon? Am I possessed?”

 _"No, no,"_ the voice replied soothingly, _"_ _I am no demon. I mean you no harm. I’m here to grant your wish."_

“My… wish?” You asked cautiously.

_"Yes, your wish. There is someone you love, right?"_

_Chika,_ You thought, a blush creeping onto her face.

_"Exactly, her. I’m here to make her yours once again."_

_Mine once again…_ You thought wistfully.

You clenched her fists, not even noticing the slight pain as a red sigil burned itself onto the back of her right hand.

“All right, what do I have to do?”

* * *

 

Riko sighed, packing her bag with her textbooks. It was almost dark out. Riko had texted her mom, telling her not to worry, that she would be home a little later than usual.

It had been a long day, but she was happy for the first time in a long time. Chika’s presence had made everything better. Not only did Chika turn out to be incredibly friendly, but You also seemed more at ease with her there as well. Riko felt that, for the first time in a long time, she had friends with her.

She had been a little flustered when You had run off to swim practice, leaving Chika and Riko alone. Riko had gotten up to leave, to buy a drink or something, anything that would allow her to escape the awkward situation You’s absence had put her in. But Chika had grabbed her wrist, stopping her retreat.

“Sit.” Chika said, patting the seat next to her. Riko obeyed.

“We have had a chance to really talk, just the two of us.” Chika seemed unfazed by how that sounded, but Riko’s blush was heavy. She did not know what it was about the orange-haired girl, but something about her set her off in all the right ways.

“W-what do you want to t-talk about?” Riko stuttered.

Chika giggled. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”

Riko gawked. Never before had a girl so blatantly flirted with her. She… liked it. She liked it a lot.

She liked it so much, in fact, that she did not even notice what time it was when they finally separated, Chika saying something about having to help out around the inn. Apparently, her family owned it.

After Chika left, Riko just sat there, pretending to be studying. Not that she could actually concentrate on what she was reading, she just wanted people to think she actually had a reason to be at school. It was not until the sun had set that Riko finally saw fit to leave.

It was an unnaturally cold night, even for January. Riko shivered, wishing she had brought a jacket. If only she had left before the sun went down…

“Hey there,” an unfamiliar voice called out to her.

Riko looked around, looking for the source of the voice. A lone figure stood by the school gate, face obscured by her hoodie. The only defining feature visible was a lock of grayish-brown hair that poked out from the edge of the hood.

“Yes?” Riko was apprehensive, but tried to be polite. She always was when it came to strangers. “Is there something I can help you with?”

This girl looked to be about her age, but there was something strange about her. She radiated an otherworldly aura, one of power. _She could very easily kill me,_ Riko thought.

The figure lifted her head, revealing light brown eyes and a whimsical grin. She stuck her hand out. A gleam shined from where her palm was, making Riko wince and forcing her to close her eyes for a second from the sudden flash of brightness. When she recovered, she noticed a large pointed object in the hooded girl’s hand.

“Yeah, there is, actually. Could you just die for me?”

The girl spun the object around before grabbing it near the tip with her other hand. She crouched down, holding the object like a spear.

_That thing… It’s like the one from my dream!_

Riko knew that she could only do one thing: run.

She made a mad dash out of the gate, surprising the figure. It was clear that she had not expected Riko to run _towards_ somebody that was holding a weapon and displaying murderous intent.

“Nice move! You even surprised me for a second!” the hooded girl called after her. She started maniacally laughing. “But don’t even think that you can outrun an Idol Spirit!”

 _What? An Idol Spirit?_ Riko thought, racing through the streets. She was already panting heavily, feeling the fatigue in her calf muscles. She was horribly out of shape, neither used to walking around due to Tokyo’s public transportation system nor having been on a sports team back at Otonokizaka.

“Too slow.” Suddenly, the girl appeared right in front of Riko. The forward momentum that she had from running at superhuman speeds caused her hood to slid off, freeing a mane of long gray locks, with a loop held together on top by a green ribbon. Riko shrieked, instantly turning face and running in another direction.

 _Run, run, run._ That was the only thought that was going through Riko’s mind. It was all she _could_ think. If any other thought invaded her mind, even for a moment, she would be killed. She was sure of it.

* * *

 

Lancer was impressed by the girl’s will to live. Sure, her stamina had given out long ago, and it was clear that she did not have options, but there was a certain quality to her that Lancer found amusing. It was that hope, surely, that will to live, the way that a mouse trapped in a maze will still continue to run towards every possible dead end until its life truly ended.

It was not like she could outrun Lancer. The supply of mana from her Master was… lacking, to say the least, but her naturally superhuman speed as an Idol Spirit was more than enough for her to easily outpace the red-haired rodent. Lancer could kill her at any time she wanted, if not for her love of tormenting her victims, giving them no other choice but to die.

She stopped for a moment when she realized that her pursuit had led her to the pier. The expanse of the sea was simply beautiful. There was no other word to describe it. She gazed at it, its iridescent surface reflecting the light of the stars. Lancer took in a deep breath, enjoying the sweet taste of country air, still relatively fresh when compared to the big city. This was nice.

There was something about the sea. Something serene, calm, and familiar.

Something she _hated_.

That hatred reminded Lancer of her purpose: to grant her Master’s wish. Her wish, so similar to the one that Lancer herself had held in life. The wish that the Grail had so generously given her a second chance at fulfilling. This kinship that she shared with her Master, though she did not know it, was what drew Lancer to her in the first place. It was fate that she had been summoned.

Lancer tore her eyes away from the sea. Her prey, the one named Riko Sakurauchi, was on her last legs, both figuratively and literally. She could barely stand anymore, and it was obvious that she was resigned to her fate. She turned, noticing Lancer’s eyes just staring at her, waiting for her next move. Lancer waved back and even gave her a little smile. It was the least she could give as a parting gift.

 _What will the trapped mouse do next?_ Lancer silently mused.

Riko looked at the water, then at Lancer, then back at the water. Lancer watched her throat contract as she swallowed, slowly and nervously. She then stretched her arms out, leaned back a little, and fell off of the pier into the shining sea below.

* * *

 

Cold. That was all Riko felt as the sea enveloped her, swallowing her into its inky depths. The frigid water left her whole body numb.

_I’m dead, aren’t I?_

_"No,"_ a strangely familiar voice replied, _"_ _you are, in fact, not dead."_

The reply shocked Riko. What was left of her clouded judgment realized that there was no way anybody’s voice could reach her in the murky depths. No, the voice… It had come from _within_ her mind.

_Who… are you?_

_"That is not important for the time being. It is rather unorthodox to form the contract in this manner, but in this case…"_ The voice stopped itself for a second, then started talking again. " _Answer me, do you want to live?"_

Images flashed through Riko’s mind. Her mother, crying at her funeral. Her piano, caked in dust from never being touched again. Chika’s smile…

_Yes, I do._

_"Very well then. The contract is formed…"_

Despite the numbness, Riko felt something grab onto her, dragging her upwards. Up towards the surface, where there was air and life and _warmth_. Up and out of the water with such force that she went flying into the air, before landing softly on the pier…

...where a girl stood, holding a katana, blue hair whipping around in the salty sea breeze.

“...Master.”

* * *

 

“It seems that Lancer and Saber were summoned within ten or so minutes of each other. They’re probably going to engage each other very soon. We should continue watching, Master… Hey, Master? Master, are you listening?”

“What? Oh, sorry Assassin, I zoned out for a second. What is your report?”

“...I just gave it.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“Master, are you all right? You made me swear an oath to take this seriously, yet you’re the one getting distracted here.”

“It won’t happen again, Assassin, I promise. Have you managed to identify their Masters?”

“I have not confirmed it, but Lancer’s Master seems to be a gray-haired girl, while Saber’s Master appears to be a red-haired one. I spotted both leaving Uranohoshi, so I assume that they are students there.”

“Gray and red hair…”

“Another thing: both of them have surprisingly low parameters for the Knight classes, but I’m assuming that stems from their incompetent Masters. I sensed no magical aptitude from either of them. Despite that, I can still sense that they are still quite deadly and should not be underestimated. They must be incredibly mana efficient to still be able to perform at such a level with such a piddly amount of mana.”

“Can you defeat them, Assassin?”

“Are you kidding? Nobody is a match for me, the number one Idol Spirit in the universe! But maybe I should go and deal with this thing that’s distracting you first…”

“What was that, Assassin?”

“Oh, nothing, don’t mind me.”

* * *

 

“I-impossible! Another Saber?! How could two Servants of the same class be summoned into the same War?!”

“Calm down, Master. Despite her appearance, I can tell she is no Saber. Nothing is amiss here.”

“How can you tell? She is very clearly holding a sword! She looks like a Saber to me!”

“I can see that, Master, but a sword does not a Saber make. I can tell just from looking at her that she is a skilled swordswomen, and in life, she possibly could have even bested me in a duel. But rest assured, the Saber class has granted me strength with a sword that is unmatched in combat.”

“But then…”

“This new Servant, while skilled with a sword, did not leave her mark upon the world with it. I feel neither a love for the blade nor any superhuman show of swordsmanship emanating from her. No, her power comes from somewhere else entirely.”

* * *

 

“Is that all you can tell, Caster?”

“I’m sorry, Master, but we have just arrived here. I have not had the chance to create any sort of atelier yet. My powers of observation can only gather this much.”

“No, it’s fine, Caster. This is all we need for now. I just want to confirm one thing.”

“And what is that?”

“With Saber and Lancer summoned, that means all seven have been chosen and gathered, yes?”

“...That seems to be the case. I sense six other Idol Spirits in the town. Including us, that is seven Idol Spirits, one for each of the seven different Servant classes. And yet…”

“And yet?”

“And yet, I feel as if the War has not even begun.”


	6. Chapter 5: Day 1—Fight to Live Another Day

The girl who had called Riko her Master, the same katana-wielding girl from her dream, put both hands on her sword. “Lancer, we do not have to fight.”

“Indeed we don’t, Saber.” The girl that had pursued her earlier, the one evidently named Lancer, brandished her spear. While she still looked as menacing as ever, Riko detected a hint of nervousness in Lancer’s voice. “My objective was to kill your Master, not you.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot allow that.” Saber crouched down, raising her sword in front of her in a defensive stance, and stared at Lancer, not making a move.

Lancer just looked at her for a second, then started laughing. “You aren’t going to attack, Saber? You should be far stronger than me in single combat.” Lancer threw her spear into the air, letting it spin before catching it in her other hand. She repeated the movement a couple of times, as if she were playfully juggling the spear. “Are you afraid that you won’t be able to beat me?”

Saber opened her mouth to respond, and in that moment, Lancer rushed at her, kicking off of the ground to gain forward momentum. Saber, despite being on guard, seemed surprised by Lancer’s speed, just barely managing to catch the spear’s tip on her sword’s edge to deflect the blow. The impact of their two weapons against each other sent shockwaves through the pier, rattling every bone in Riko’s body.

_Who are these people?! They’re insanely strong! Are they even human?_

Lancer slid about a meter backward from the impact before slamming her feet into the ground, stopping herself. “Not bad, Saber, but I can feel that you’re lacking power behind your swings.” She sounded more confident now, all previous traces of nervousness gone.

Saber had been sent back an equally long distance by the clash. “You seem far weaker than you should be as well, Lancer.”

Lancer tightened her grip on her spear. “Well, my Master may not be providing me with a steady stream of mana, but it’s still more than enough to kill both you and your Master over there.”

Lancer dug the butt of her spear into the ground and twisted her hips, causing the spear’s shaft to bend slightly. The next thing Riko saw was Lancer coming down from the sky. Saber would have been impaled had she not stepped back in the last second. The speed of the vault surprised Riko. Was it humanly possible to perform a vault that quickly? No, was it even _physically_ possible?

 _What_ are _they?!_

Saber recollected herself, readied her sword in front of her once again, and waited.

“Why won’t you attack me, Saber?” Lancer yelled out, sounding frustrated. “Am I not worthy of being your opponent?”

“We do not have to fight,” Saber simply repeated.

“You piss me off,” Lancer growled. She charged again.

Riko watched as sparks flew every time the sword and the spear made contact. Every clash sent a ringing sound through the air. The ground shook from every strike. It was as if the whole world was going to be split apart. Yet, Saber never made a move to strike at Lancer, always just standing there, either blocking or evading Lancer’s attacks.

The defensive position left Saber on the back foot. Riko could see that Saber was struggling to parry each of Lancer’s lightning-fast strikes, and, little by little, was being forced back. If this kept up…!

Lancer stabbed once more and this time, the attack connected. Riko heard Saber let out a grunt as a gush of red sprayed from her right shoulder. Saber grabbed her shoulder with her left hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but it left her with only one hand to grasp the sword with. Her grip was shaky.

“It’s over, Saber. You’re no match for me without the use of both your hands.” Lancer nestled her spear behind her neck, perching her arms on top of it. “If you had just attacked me at the start, you would’ve had a chance. But you decided to play the pacifist.” Lancer scowled. “Do you think this War is a joke?”

Saber took a deep breath and uttered, “We… do not have to fight.”

Lancer shook her head and sighed. She looked a little sad. “So you still have the strength to go on?” Slowly, she pointed her spear at Saber once again. “I guess you really won’t get out of my way until I kill you.”

Saber turned her back heel slightly, raised her sword in front of her, and waited for Lancer to approach.

Riko watched Saber’s chest heave from her heavy breathing, blue hair swaying in the night wind. Riko could tell that, despite her actions, she did not have much strength left. She couldn’t defend for much longer.

_This is just like my dream, which means…!_

It seemed that Lancer also noticed Saber’s weakness.

“Tired out already? Understandable, considering your weak little Master over there. Although, it is a shame. I didn’t expect Saber to be defeated so easily. Strongest Servant class? How the mighty have fallen.” Lancer nudged Saber’s trembling hand with her spear, knocking the sword out of it.

Saber didn’t resist. She couldn’t resist; she didn’t have the strength left. Saber looked like she was struggling to even keep herself upright.

At least, that’s what Riko thought, until Saber smirked, an expression of newfound strength and resolution on her lips.

“Do not count me out yet, Lancer. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” Saber raised her left hand. Something was forming in her hand, an amorphous dark blob at first, but almost immediately it began taking a more recognizable shape. The blob stretched and curved until it was a smooth black arch, almost a semicircle except leaner and taller. A string appeared to connect its two open ends.

Lancer narrowed her eyes. “You’re no Saber…” She pointed at the bow with her spear, “You’re an Archer!”

Saber’s _(no, Archer’s?)_ eyes met Riko’s, fear shining through her facade of bravery. “Run, Master!” she yelled, a pleading tone to her voice.

_So that’s what she tried to tell me in the dream…_

Archer turned back towards Lancer, narrowing her eyes. “I didn’t think I would be using my Noble Phantasm so early into the War, but you’ve left me with no choice.”

Lancer rolled her eyes. “So what about your Noble Phantasm? I’ll just kill you before you use it.”

The smirk on Archer’s face only grew wider. “But how will you do that? Unlike the Archer class, the Lancer class does not possess Independent Action. How will you kill me when all the mana in the air is frozen? More importantly, how will you avoid the Noble Phantasm when you lose the ability to move?”

Lancer backed up nervously, color draining from her face. Her earlier attitude of cocky bravado was gone, replaced by a look of fear.

“N-now hold on, Archer, no need to be so hasty!”

Archer ignored her. She raised her right hand and an arrow appeared in her palm. She nocked the arrow, pulled her arm back, and began to chant.

“Wata…” The tip of the arrow began glowing.

Lancer put her hands up, dropping her spear. “We can talk this out, right? I’ll leave you two alone! Just don’t finish invoking its True Name, okay?”

“...shi…”

Riko felt the air get cold. Was it just because she had been in the water earlier, or was every molecule in the air actually freezing as Archer readied her arrow?

“Wait, Archer! Seriously, don’t finish casting your Noble Phantasm! We’ll all die here, even your Master! You don’t want that, do you?!”

The glow on the arrow’s tip only grew brighter. Riko could really feel it now, as if the marrow in her bones were freezing over. She was paralyzed, helpless, unable to move a muscle.

Then, suddenly, it went silent. The glow on the arrow’s tip abruptly died out. Archer had stopped her chant. She made eye contact with Lancer, and Riko thought she could see a look of understanding cross between them. Were the two of them having some sort of silent exchange?

“Both our Masters want this,” Lancer said softly, “so shall we call for a truce? In pursuit of a mutual goal?”

“Allow me to tend to my Master. I will catch up with you when I have ensured her safety,” Archer agreed.

Lancer nodded. She turned around, bending her legs as if she were preparing to jump. Then, she turned her head to look back at Archer.

“You live to fight another day, Archer,” Lancer grandly declared as she began to leap away, “but don’t think you’ve escaped me. You’re the one I hate most of all.” And with that statement, she disappeared into the night. Despite her words, Riko couldn’t help but think that Lancer looked a little relieved that Archer’s chant had been interrupted.

Archer dropped her bow and fell to her knees, panting heavily. Riko rushed over to the fallen girl. “Are you all right?! You’re bleeding!”

Archer nodded. Her face glistened with sweat. Riko could hear the pain in her shallow breaths. “I’m fine, Master. But I have a bad feeling that someone you care about is not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be perfectly honest, I have very little experience writing action scenes. I'm not really that proud of this chapter, and I think I'll rewrite it later on, maybe with a different perspective, since it's kind of weird to have an observer have such detailed commentary about a fight scene. The pacing also feels off to me. It would be great if you guys could leave all sorts of comments on how to improve this chapter.  
> Also, since this is my first author's note on this fic, I would like to thank each and every reader. Even if you haven't commented before (I try to reply to all of them that won't spoil how later chapters will unfold), know that I appreciate you reading my work. This is by far the most writing I have ever posted on a public forum, and I am delighted by the positive feedback.


	7. Chapter 6: Day 1—"Assassin" Attacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that I should make far more use of the author's notes feature. If the note appears at the beginning of the chapter, it will be something like this, just my voice as the author with no mentions of the story. If the notes appear at the end of the chapter, then I have deemed them to be possibly a spoiler or I'm begging for feedback. Keep in mind that there will never be anything important to the story's plot in the author's notes, meaning that you can easily skip them if they get too annoying.  
> That being said, please enjoy the latest chapter of "Fate/love live."

The school day had gone well enough, all things considered. Chika hadn’t expected the new girl to be so much fun to hang out with. She could feel the jealous aura radiating off of You, but Chika expected that was just because You did not have all of Chika’s attention on her for once in her life.

_She can’t always expect me to be completely focused on her though, can she?_

All in all, it had been a good day at school.

That changed as soon as she left Riko.

Chika decided that, for once, maybe she should study in the library. She had never really seen the point of studying; it wasn’t like she was planning on going to college, since she would most likely be inheriting the inn along with her sisters. She didn’t need it to keep up with her friends either: You and Kanan both had pretty low grades as well, although they had the excuse of being some of the best athletes at Uranohoshi. But with Riko, it was different. Chika didn’t want to seem dumb in front of her new friend, especially one that had managed to answer every problem the teacher asked her correctly.

_How she does it, I cannot comprehend._

Truth be told, Chika enjoyed the occasional visit to the school library. Chika didn’t particularly like reading, but the library was small place, nice and quiet. Despite Chika’s outgoing personality, even she enjoyed some peace and quiet every once in a while.

Chika opened the door and walked into the library. It was empty.

_Makes sense. Finals aren't for another few weeks. I don’t think anybody would come in here to study just yet._

Chika wandered aimlessly between the shelves, trying to find a book to read. She did come to study, but she was having a really hard time mustering up the willpower to actually sit down and tackle her homework. Noticing a book with a brightly-colored spine, she raised her arm, trying to grab it.

“Are you looking for anything in particular, zura?”

The voice startled Chika, since the library had been completely silent up until then. She turned around, letting her arm drop to her side, and looked for the source of the voice. A small girl stood there. She had long brown hair and an orange tie. Chika had seen her before during her previous visits to the library but had never paid much attention to her. If she remembered correctly, this girl was always either putting books back on shelves or behind the checkout counter, meaning that she was the assistant librarian.

The girl’s eyes widened when she noticed who she was looking at.

“Chika?!” she exclaimed.

Chika tilted her head in confusion. “How do you know my name?”

The brown-haired girl put her hands to her mouth, as if she had just accidentally revealed some terrible secret. “Oh, it’s… um… R-right! I’ve heard about you before! Around school!”

Chika noticed that the girl seemed panicked, like she was trying to come up with an adequate excuse. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

_Well, it could make sense. You and Kanan are the best athletes at our school. Having both of them as my friends could make me a little famous by association. Still, this girl seems too panicked, as if she had just let something slip…_

Chika felt uneasy, unsure whether or not to just brush off the girl’s strange actions.

_This girl looks like the timid type. Maybe she just isn’t used to people asking her questions? But maybe I should test her just to be sure…_

“Yeah, I’m looking for a book on elephants. Could you get one for me?”

The girl nodded and walked into another aisle. When she returned, she handed Chika thick leather-bound book with a crudely-drawn elephant on the cover. “Tell me if this is good enough, zura.”

 _Her right hand is covered in bandages,_ Chika noted as she turned the pages, pretending to skim through the book. Once she was done, she closed the book, smiling at the girl. “Yeah, this is great! Thank you!”

The girl nodded again. “No problem, I’m glad to help.” She turned to leave.

“Oh, just one more thing: what’s your name?” Chika called out.

Turning her head and giving Chika a soft smile, the girl said, “Hanamaru. Hanamaru Kunikida.”

 _Her right hand… She was hiding something. Does that mean she’s in the same ritual thing as Kanan is?_ Chika thought as she walked home. She didn’t feel safe in the library after that little encounter and decided to head home immediately instead of hanging around for a little longer. She would’ve gone back to the classroom and invited Riko to walk home together, being that they were neighbors and all, but something was telling her that she needed to leave school at that very moment.

Even after leaving the school grounds, however, Chika still felt like she was being watched. In fact, she was definitely being watched, if the suspiciously masked girl in the pink sweater following behind her was any indication.

“Why are you following me?” Chika asked without turning around.

“What makes you think I’m following you? I’m just walking in this direction. It’s just a coincidence,” the girl huffed.

Chika then turned and pointed an accusatory finger at the girl’s face, which was mostly obscured by a pair of large sunglasses and a face mask, like the type people wear when they are sick. Along with her short little twin tails on the sides of her head, she looked a bit like a classic old-timey horror movie alien. “You’ve clearly been trailing me since I left school. Plus, explain that stalker outfit.”

The girl put a hand on her chest dramatically, seemingly offended. “I am _not_ a stalker, thank you very much. In fact, I’m an Id-” she brought a fist to her mouth and coughed, “Idealist. An idealist, yes. That is what I am.”

Chika narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t sound like what you were going to say.”

The girl crossed her arms angrily. “Look, I said what I meant and I mean what I say, so could you please just go away?”

 _This is getting nowhere,_ Chika thought.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go. But if I notice you following me again, I’m calling the police.”

The girl snorted unattractively. “I’d like to see them do something about it.”

Chika ignored her and started walking again, relieved to see that the girl didn’t seem to be following her anymore. Although, her eyes never left Chika, watching her until she disappeared around the corner.

Chika jumped on her bed the moment she got home, not even bothering to turn on the lights. She didn’t really feel like doing anything. Nobody was home. Her big sisters, Mito and Shima, were supposed to be away for a week, and her mother probably wasn’t going to be back home for another few hours.

After the good day she had at school, Chika felt lonely.

“I wonder if Riko’s home yet,” Chika said into the empty darkness. Chika looked across her balcony to where she assumed Riko’s room was. The room was dark. “Guess not.”

Chika woke up to the sound of shuffling behind her. _When did I fall asleep?_ She thought. She noticed that the sky was dark now. She must’ve been out for at least a few hours.

The shuffling sound came again. “Shiitake?” she called out. No lights were on in the hallway, so her mother clearly was not home yet.

Something whizzed by her face, sticking itself into the wall. Chika managed to get a glimpse of it, just enough to make out what it was. Some sort of knife? No, a scalpel?

“Still think I’m your stupid dog?” a familiar voice said smugly, sending a chill through Chika’s body. She looked in the direction the scalpel had come from. Red eyes met her pink ones.

“Go on, call the police. I dare you.”


	8. Chapter 7: Day 1—Storm in Lancer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where I apologize for not posting a new chapter for a few days. If it isn't obvious by now, I've run out of prewritten chapters, so the updates will come slower in the future.

You rounded a corner, sprinting as fast as she could toward Chika’s house.

_Can I get there in time?_

A moment of madness had overtaken her in the supply closet. She didn’t know what came over her, but the next thing she knew she was dripping the liquid mercury on top of the circle and chanting an incantation she did not know the words to.

The light had been blinding. You covered her eyes with an arm, wincing in pain from the sudden flash in the dark closet. A sudden realization hit her: what had she just done?

“It’s nice to finally get to see you with my own eyes, Master,” the voice said to her, this time louder, richer, and decidedly not in her head.

You opened her eyes as she recovered and was shocked by what she saw. Kneeling in the center of the mercury-soaked circle was a girl. Gray hair cascaded off of her head and down her back, softly reflecting the dim light leaking into the storage closet from the slightly open door. She wasn’t wearing the Uranohoshi school uniform; instead, she was adorned with a frilly black dress that looked suspiciously like maid cosplay. She tilted her face upward, allowing You to get a full look at her face. The first thing You noticed was the girl’s wide grin, reminding You of the face of a horror movie psychopath.

You stepped back in shock. _Who is this person? How did she get here?_

The girl began to stand up.

“D-don’t move!” You shrieked, suddenly fearful for her own life. _What if she attacks me?_

The girl’s smile disappeared, replaced with a small frown. “I understand that you’re confused and frightened, Master, but believe me, I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I’m here to grant your wish.”

You remembered what the voice had whispered in her head before. “My… wish?”

The girl nodded in response. “I’m here to grant your wish, Master, and in exchange, you will help me grant mine. But before we discuss what you can do for me, I want you to see what I can do for you.” The girl snapped her fingers, making a hoodie appear out of seemingly thin air. She threw the garment over her shoulders and started for the door to the storage closet.

“Wait!” You called out, “I don’t even know your name!”

The girl turned her face towards You, offering a little smile. “You can call me Lancer, Master.”

_Where did Lancer go after that? First she runs off without telling me what she is planning to do, then she tells me that Chika is in danger out of nowhere!_

You rounded another corner, just narrowly avoiding an oncoming car. She winced at the blare of the car horn, but did not stop to even offer an apology.

“I’m almost there, Lancer.” You panted out loud.

_"Once you get there, assess the situation from a distance, but do not enter the house. Wait for me to catch up."_

“Is something dangerous happening?! Is Chika all right?!”

_"We can only pray, Master. We can only pray."_

* * *

 

Chika heard a crash, and the next thing she knew, she was falling out of her second story window. It was only as she realized that the ground was approaching rapidly did she think that _maybe_ jumping out of a window to escape a potential murderer was going to result in her death anyway.

She closed her eyes, imagining herself doing a perfect somersault in the air and landing on her feet as if she were a world-class acrobat.

 _Conceptualize, visualize, release._ “Shine on.”

Chika felt the mana wash over her, coursing through her system. A burst of confidence ran through her veins. She tucked her legs in, propelling herself forward, then stretched her legs out a second later. The soles of her feet made contact with the soft ground. A perfect landing.

“Huh, I can’t believe that worked,” Chika said to herself, brushing the wrinkles out of her school uniform.

“What… How? Who are you? You know thaumaturgy?!”

Chika turned around to look into her broken window. Now that she got a good look at her, Chika could confirm that her attacker was definitely the stalker from before. She had the same short twin tails, facial structure, and body type, only now her red eyes were revealed. She wasn’t wearing the pink sweater she had on before, instead wearing a ridiculous looking pink sleeveless dress. There was no way that was normal, everyday attire. “Are you a magus too?” Chika replied cautiously, keeping her eyes peeled for any sudden movements.

“Nope. I told you, didn’t I?” the attacker replied.

Chika furrowed her brow in confusion. _She’s clearly dangerous, but she seems to want to make small talk. If I can humor her and play along, it should give me enough time to think of a way out of this._

“You’re… an idealist, right?”

The attacker wrinkled her nose. “What? No, I told you before, I’m an Idol Spirit!”

_Idol Spirit?_

“What is that, exactly?”

The attacker looked at her, eyes widening. “You don’t know what Idols Spirits are? You, a magus living in Uchiura, don’t know about the Holy Grail War?”

Chika thought hard. _Holy Grail War? Have I heard about that before?_ After a few seconds of deep concentration, she sighed and shook her head. “Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.”

The attacker starred for a second, wide-eyed, then burst out laughing. “This is just too much! You’re even friends with one of the candidates from the Three Founding Families! Do you seriously not know anything about the War?”

Chika shook her head vigorously. “It’s true! I don’t know anything!”

The attacker shrugged her shoulders. “Well, why didn’t you tell me that earlier? If I knew you weren’t a threat, then I wouldn’t have come here trying to kill you. I guess I’ll just leave now.”

Chika looked towards the Idol Spirit and flashed her best smile. “Really? I would really appreciate that.” _Am I really going to get away with this?_

The scalpel whizzed by her face, grazing her cheek before she even had a chance to change her expression.

“As if.” The attacker’s tone was now cold, starkly contrasting the earlier cutesy tone that she was trying to put on. “Unfortunately, you’re a threat for another reason entirely. My Master seems to care more about your well-being than the War. It is my duty as her Servant to eliminate any obstacles in our path to the Grail, which includes distractions like you.”

Chika barely had time to roll out of the way before a rain of scalpels flew from her bedroom window.

“Shine on!”

* * *

 

You watched as a glistening volley flew from Chika’s broken bedroom window. Was she too late? Was Chika already…?

 _No!_ You thought to herself, _I refuse to believe it! I can still save her! I will save her!_

“Chika!” You yelled, running into the inn’s courtyard.

“You?! What are you doing here?!” Chika exclaimed in surprise, pausing in her frenzied movement for just a moment before diving to her right, barely dodging a barrage of scalpels.

You ran at Chika, noticing the glowing orange lines that traced up her arms and legs. _What happened to her?!_ She shook the thought out of her head. No, at that moment, the most important thing she had to do—the only thing she had to do—was save Chika.

You jumped on Chika, embracing her, tears streaming from her eyes. You knew what was coming; she had seen the shadowy figure throw yet another volley of scalpels. She positioned her body in such a way that it would shield Chika, but she knew that it wasn’t going to be enough. Even if she did block this volley, what would happen afterward? Who would protect Chika if You was dead?

“Lancer, save us!” You screamed out desperately, pleadingly, helplessly. She closed her eyes, praying to any god who happened to be listening that she would be able to protect Chika.

You felt a slight sting on the back of her right hand, forcing her eyes open. A bright red glow cut through the dark night. You heard the sound of hundreds of scalpels being deflected at an impossibly high speed.

“That was reckless, Master,” Lancer said through gritted teeth, spinning what appeared to be a pole in front of her so quickly that it made the motion look like one continuous circle. Scalpels were bouncing off of the circle and flying away in every direction. Then, the scalpels suddenly stopped coming. Lancer stopped spinning the object as well, allowing You to notice the point on the end of the shaft. _A spear?_ she thought.

You noticed a pink shape jump down from Chika’s balcony. It appeared to be a small girl, but the aura she gave off made her feel… larger than life, You decided. That was the best way she could describe the pink-clad newcomer. Just the sight of her made You feel uneasy.

“Glad you could join me, Lancer,” the girl said, a smirk forming on her porcelain face. “Now you can die alongside your Master and her friend.”


	9. Chapter 8: Day 1—I Ask of You…

_"Master, this one is going to destroy me,"_ You heard in her head.

She looked over at Lancer. Her face had a confident look on it, spear pointed at the girl in a threatening manner.

 _Are you sure? You look like you can handle this…_ You tried to project telepathically.

_"Yes, I’m one hundred percent sure of it, Master. This Servant is far beyond anything I’ve ever encountered. Archer was a joke compared to this one."_

_Archer? Who’s that? What did you get up to when you left me earlier?_

_"It’s a long story that I don’t have the time to tell, Master. For now, just try to get yourself and your friend out of here. I’ll try to hold this Servant back for as long as I can."_

You had just heard the end of Lancer’s message when she saw Lancer leap into action, running low to the ground. Her spear was clutched firmly in her right hand, ready to strike. Lancer snaked across the courtyard, moving erratically in an effort to dodge flying scalpels.

You knew that Lancer was trying to give them as much time as possible to escape. “Chika!” she said frantically, pulling her friend off the ground. “We have to go!”

“We have to help her! She doesn’t stand a chance on her own!” Chika said, struggling against You’s grip.

“No, Chika! Lancer’s giving us a chance to escape, so don’t let her efforts go to waste! Chika, stop struggling, we have to _go_!”

“Shine on!” Chika shouted.

You yelped as a strange feeling of numbness spread across her hands. It was like she had stuck her hands in a tub of ice and water, the sudden temperature change causing both numbness and pain at the same time. She instinctively let go of Chika, who rushed off towards the two fighting Servants.

You stared at her hands, then at Chika’s moving form. _What was that?_

* * *

 

Lancer had never felt this cornered before.

Since she had been summoned into one of the three Knight-class vessels, she didn’t think that there were any opponents that could defeat her in close-quarters combat, besides maybe a Saber. Despite that, this mysterious Servant was pulling it off quite nicely using hit-and-run tactics: distracting her with a throw scalpel before moving in for a melee strike. Lancer’s entire body was covered with small scratches and cuts, none of which were life-threatening on their own, but in combination, they were slowly draining Lancer of her strength. Lancer could feel her body weakening with every hit she took, and she knew that, eventually, she would fall to the Servant.

If only she could figure out what class the Servant was! That would help to form a strategy against her, since Servants were severely limited when it came to their offensive options. Lancer weighed the possibilities, all while attempting to dodge every shiny missile the Servant tossed her way.

_With all this throwing, I would first guess that she’s an Archer. After all, anything is an arrow if you squint hard enough, even knives and swords. Fortunately, I’ve already met Archer, so that’s out. Saber? But she’s tossing around the scalpels carelessly, with no regard for them at all. A Saber Servant wields one blade and uses it to its maximum potential, so it’s an unlikely option as well. Rider? I see no stead. Caster? These scalpels aren’t Projected metal, they’re each a minor-ranked Noble Phantasm. Berserker? She doesn’t look insane, but who knows? It could just be a low rank of Mad Enhancement… But that aside, the most likely candidate is…_

“Assassin!” Lancer called out, hoping that her guess was right. The Servant paused for a moment, a look of confusion on her face, before quickly replacing itself with an arrogant smirk.

“Yup, that’s me! Assassin! That’s totally who I am! The number one Idol Spirit in the universe, an Assassin-class Servant, yup!”

Lancer narrowed her eyes. “Something about that sounds suspicious.”

“Are you saying I’m lying?” Assassin replied coldly. “I’ll have you know, that sentiment offends me deeply.” She held a single scalpel up in the air.

Lancer held onto her spear with both hands, ready to deflect an incoming throw scalpel.

It never came.

Suddenly, Assassin was right next to her. If Lancer hadn’t caught a glance at the crater and flying debris where Assassin had just been standing, she would have thought that the Servant had just teleported. Right next to Lancer’s ear, Assassin whispered a single word.

“Daring!!”

Lancer’s eyes widened. _A Noble Phantasm?! No,_ this _Noble Phantasm?! But she shouldn’t be able to use this one!_

Lancer heard the crunch of ribs caving in under the force of a superpowered kick, but the sound wasn’t of her own ribs breaking. Lancer watched as Chika Takami’s limp body was launched across the courtyard.

“She’s so stupid. You give her a chance to escape, and instead, she runs right up in between us, as if she could protect you. It’s amazing that she’s even alive.” Assassin turned to Lancer, saying, “I’m sorry that her sacrifice is going to be in vain,” as she threw a punch into Lancer’s stomach.

Lancer felt as if she was entering spirit form as she flew across the courtyard. Her back made a violent impact with a stone wall. Her vision was blurry and she was seeing double. She felt nauseous. She saw small pools of blood between her legs. She coughed, sending another crimson spray out of her mouth.

To be able to cause this much damage to an Idol Spirit, unarmed no less! Lancer didn’t even want to think about how Chika Takami was feeling.

Chika Takami… What would happen to her?

Lancer watched helplessly as Assassin walked up to Chika’s fallen figure, ready to finish her off. _I’m sorry, Master. In the end, I failed to fulfill your wish._

But Lancer was not one to give up even when all hope seemed to be lost. She did still have one option, her trump card that she planned on saving until the time was right.

“Spicaterrible,” she managed to whisper shakily.

* * *

 

Chika felt the pain of her newly-healed ribs being destroyed for a second time. This time, however, was far worse. If Kanan’s kick was a pickup truck driving over her, then that girl’s kick was a road roller thrown by a vampire in frozen time.

The girl—she was called Assassin, if Chika had heard correctly—walked up to Chika, in no rush to finish her off. After all, it wasn’t as if Chika, crippled and unmoving on the ground, was either a threat or capable of escape.

Chika raised her right arm shakily in a pathetic attempt to protect herself. In her fading consciousness, she could just make out the red sigil that was burned into the back of her right hand.

_I won’t die… I refuse to die…_

“I will not die…” Chika muttered weakly.

* * *

 

A girl sat atop a pile of corpses in her own little world: a dark, dreary place that saw no sunlight. Snow and hail beat down on the landscape mercilessly, covering the ground with gray snow as far as the eye could see. The land was littered with corpses; dead limbs and face stuck out of the snow, forever taunting the girl, reminding her of her sins and of the life she could never escape. Those that had betrayed her and that she had betrayed back stared at her forevermore, their cold, empty stares serving as an everlasting reminder of what had happened.

This landscape could truly have gone by the name of Hell.

The girl sat cross-legged, her medium-length brown hair swaying in the winter winds, blue eyes staring at the frozen wasteland before her. All she wanted was an escape from this world, a world that she had no right to escape. This was a punishment that she had brought upon herself. Indeed, this could even be considered her prison, trapping her, even in death, with the darkest of her deeds.

She wondered how much she had to repent before the gods would free her from the world, how much penitence she had to pay to meet their arbitrary demands. She had never known if it was even reachable, so she had never even attempted.

So that is what she has been doing since the beginning of time to the end of it, as the Reverse Side of the World is above such a concept as “time.” She planned to gaze upon the morbid landscape for yet another thousand eternities.

That is, until she heard a call, the call to action, to fix the mistakes she had made in the past and to make those who had betrayed her pay for what they did, for what they put her through. It was a tempting offer indeed.

A thousand eternities of gazing would have to wait.

* * *

 

 _How am I not dead?_ Chika thought.

A clang rang through the night. In front of Chika, where Assassin had been before, stood a girl. She was a red and white blur to Chika because of her distorted vision, her red skirt and white shirt blending together. Chika could make out something long, shiny, and curved in her hand. A sword, maybe a katana?

“Who are you?! What are you doing here?!” Chika heard Assassin yell out.

The girl ignored Assassin’s question, instead turning around to face Chika. There was a familiar expression on the girl’s face, one that Chika knew all too well. Chika unconsciously shivered, unnerved by something about this girl. It was like looking into a mirror for her.

The girl opened her mouth, speaking the words that change Chika’s life forever.

“Servant Avenger has answered the call. I ask of you: are you my Master?”


	10. Chapter 9: Day 1—The Eighth Servant: Avenger

Chika heard Assassin scoff in the distance. “No, really, who are you?”

The girl who had called herself Avenger continued to pay no attention to Assassin. Evidently, this was making the pink-clad girl quite angry.

“Listen to me, you stuck-up Servant! Who! Are! You! Answer! Me!” Assassin said, stomping her foot after each word for emphasis.

Avenger didn’t even glance at Assassin. She just kept staring at Chika, waiting.

Chika couldn’t take her eyes off of Avenger. Literally, her body wasn’t able to move into the required position to look away from her. But even if she physically could, Chika didn’t think that she would choose to.

Avenger was beautiful. It was not an ethereal beauty; rather, it felt very grounded and—for lack of a better word—normal. She seemed approachable, the kind of person whose beauty did not make them more intimidating, but even served to make them seem more friendly and inviting.

 _This would probably be more romantic,_ Chika mused, _if I wasn’t crippled and unable to get up off of the ground._

Contrary to her looks, the aura Avenger gave off still left Chika uneasy. There was something clearly wrong with this situation. Chika knew this aura. It felt familiar. It felt like _herself_.

The question still rang in Chika’s mind: “I ask of you: are you my Master?” Avenger was clearly waiting for a response. What other reason could she have for staring at Chika so intently and silently?

_I have to say no. I have to say no. I have to say no. I have to do everything in my power to refuse._

Chika did not know what possessed her. Maybe she was in a trance after the events that just transpired. Maybe she was just out of it. Maybe the whole atmosphere was influencing her, forcing into making unwise decisions on the spur of the moment.

She did not know what caused it, but she did know that she found herself giving a slow and small nod towards Avenger in response.

“The contract has been sealed.”

Avenger did not waste a second before jumping into action. In the blink of an eye, her sword was being brought down over Assassin’s head. Assassin made a small yelp and dodged back, but it was clear that she had not been expecting such speed.

“Watch where you swing that thing! You could really hurt somebody if you aren’t careful, you know?” She then put a finger to her chin. “Although, I guess that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?”

“Stop joking around,” Avenger growled. She swung downwards again, cleaving into the floor of the courtyard and sending stone and dirt up into the air. She fought like a savage, paying no mind to the grace or technique that Chika always associated with swordplay, instead seemingly relying on brute strength. It wasn’t a senseless method of slaughter, however. Chika could see the subtle changes in footwork and form as Avenger and Assassin practically flew around the courtyard in a chase that reminded Chika absurdly of a game of Whack-a-Mole, Avenger bringing her sword down for a heavy overhead blow and Assassin ducking out each time. All of her observations told her that, despite not overtly showing it, Avenger was a master swordswoman. Chika felt herself watching every one of Avenger’s movements, analyzing the fighting style, thoroughly enraptured by each and every swing of her sword.

“Just give up on it!” Assassin called out as she dodged yet another attack. “You’ll never land a hit on me if you keep using such slow strikes!”

“I don’t need to be the one to land the hit on you,” Avenger responded in a monotone voice.

Assassin’s face shifted from confusion to understanding in a moment. Despite her attempts to move out of the way, she could not completely dodge the spear’s strike, leaving a nasty-looking gash in her right shoulder.

“You! But that attack should have left you crippled in the corner!” Assassin said, wide-eyed in what appeared to be fear at Lancer, who was now standing over her.

Lancer wordlessly spun the spear in her right hand.

“I see,” Assassin hissed, “Your Noble Phantasm. I completely forgot about its pseudo-healing capabilities. I didn’t think you would resort to self-harm in order to heal your wounds. I thought you had some more dignity than that.”

Avenger leaped over to Assassin, pointing her sword at her face. “You lose, Assassin. There’s no way you can take on both Lancer and me and come out alive.”

Assassin sighed, raising her hands to her head in surrender, before smiling deviously. “I might have lost this fight, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still fulfill my original goal before I go down.”

Avenger’s eyes widened. “Master, get down!”

Chika narrowly avoided a flying scalpel headed straight for her face. It was a miracle that she could even muster up the amount of strength needed to dodge the scalpel.

“You’re still dead, you know that?” she heard next to her ear.

Chika just managed to turn in time to see the shadow falling upon her. Assassin was upon her, scalpels out, ready to slash her into ribbons. This was the end.

“By my Command Spell, I order you to never attack Chika or You again!” a voice called out. It was a voice that Chika knew all too well and had hoped with all her heart to not hear on this night.

Assassin froze like a statue, scalpels slipping out of her grip. She looked like she was struggling against invisible restraints, but that the act of struggling brought her great pain. Chika took the chance to back away, just in case.

“Kanan?! What are you doing here?” Chika heard You exclaim.

You received no reply. Chika heard the quick shuffling of feet and felt arms close around her, pulling her into a hug.

“I told you not to get involved!” Kanan screamed at her with tears streaming down her face.

“It’s… not… like I went out of my way… to get attacked!” Chika managed to get out despite Kanan’s rib-crushing hug.

Oh, right. Her ribs. The pain had been completely numbed by the adrenaline coursing through her body, but now that there was no more immediate danger, it had come back in full force. Chika dry-heaved, coughing blood onto Kanan’s sleeveless sweater.

“Are you all right?” Kanan asked, panicked at the amount of blood running out of Chika’s mouth.

“What… do you think… you… big dummy…?” Chika groaned before finally blacking out.

* * *

 

Archer arrived to see the inn where Chika Takami lived and was frankly shocked by the sight. Signs of battle were everywhere, the ground of the courtyard ripped apart in every visible location. The grounds were littered with scalpels, either impaled onto stone walls or sticking out of the floor.

The group of people present looked like they had seen better days as well. Archer could spot a large gash on the shoulder of one and countless small cuts and scrapes on another. Lancer seemed to be suffering from broken ribs that were haphazardly splinted together.

Archer shifted her weight, the action causing the sleeping Riko on her back to stir. The exhilaration of leaping across rooftops at such high speeds was apparently too much for her poor Master.

“So, did we miss anything?” Archer asked nervously.

Lancer looked at her with an expression that said, as clear as day, _Do you really need to ask?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, remember when I wrote that I would try writing fight scenes in the point of view of the combatants? Well, obviously I didn't keep that promise. Anyway, if you have any tips on writing fight scenes or just ways to improve my writing in general, I would really appreciate you dropping a comment to let me know!


	11. Chapter 10: Day 1—Night at Kurosawa Manor

The sound of four Black Keys sinking their blades into a wooden pillar was deafening in the silent night. Hanamaru inwardly winced, hoping that she had not woken anybody in the house up. She stared down at the red hilts she wedged between her fingers, still amazed, even after all this time, that the mana-conjured blades could be throw so easily. She pocketed the four she still had and walked over to the pillar to retrieve the ones she had just thrown, which had clattered to the floor when Hanamaru stopped providing them with mana, causing their blades to dissipate into the night. _I’ve still got it,_ she thought to herself proudly.

“Hanamaru, what are you doing?” a gentle voice called out.

Hanamaru turned to see the smiling face of her friend. “Ruby!”

Ruby beckoned her over. “Come in, Hanamaru, it’s getting late. Isn’t it cold out here? You need to get some sleep. We never know when a Servant will strike.”

Hanamaru wiped the sweat off of her brow with the back of her hand. “Just a minute, Ruby. Maru’ll get cleaned up and join you… join you…” she looked down, blushing profusely, “...in bed…” She whispered the last part.

Ruby nodded. “Don’t take too long now!” she said as she slid the door closed.

Hanamaru sighed, looking at her palm where the small T-shaped hilts that she had picked up lay. Each one was so small, so innocuous, that nobody would even imagine that they were the most powerful weapons of the Church’s fearsome Executors.

 _So small, yet so filled with power,_ Hanamaru thought wistfully, _If only I could be the same._

* * *

 

“Did she not want to come in, Master?” the brown-haired girl sitting on her bed asked timidly.

Ruby sighed. “I’m worried that she’ll overwork herself. She needs to be in top form when we do run into other Masters, especially with that monster she’s contracted with.”

A small scowl formed on the girl’s face. “I really do wish you wouldn’t call her a monster, Master. She was just summoned into that vessel. She’s trying her best to make do with it.”

“She’s gone completely insane,” Ruby replied. Seeing that the Servant was not compromising on this, she sighed. “Alright, I won’t call her a monster anymore. But I still do wish Hanamaru would take better care of herself.”

The brown-haired girl walked over to Ruby and patted her on the head. Despite her only being a little taller than Ruby herself, the pat on the head felt reassuring, as if someone was taking care of her. The simple gesture soothed Ruby, reminding her of her childhood, or more innocent days.

“You know, Rider, you have such a motherly aura,” Ruby sighed contentedly.

Rider blushed. “Oh no, Master, I don’t deserve such praise!”

Ruby shook her head. “No, you really make me feel better. Honest!”

Rider smiled. “If that is the case, then I’m glad that I can make you feel better, Master.” Her eyes brightened, as if a brilliant idea had just popped into her head. “Oh, I know!” Rider raced out of the room, only to return seconds later with two bowls in her hands. Piled in the bowls were comically tall mountains of rice. “Why don’t we have some rice together? I know that rice always makes me feel better!”

Ruby giggled. “We just had dinner, Rider. Besides, you shouldn’t eat so close to bedtime, especially rice. That’s how you get fat.”

“Whaaaaaaat?”

* * *

 

Dia had a scowl on her face.

“What shot my familiar out of the sky, Saber? I was able to observe the fight between Lancer and Archer and see Lancer’s retreat, but I lost vision soon afterward.”

Saber held up the corpse of a dead seagull. It had been impaled by something shiny and slender. Dia carefully plucked the offending missile from the lifeless bird’s form, turning it over in her hands in order to thoroughly examine it.

“A scalpel?” Dia asked no one, confusion evident in her voice. “Why would somebody be throwing a scalpel? These aren’t meant to be thrown, they’re meant for slashing.”

The blonde-haired Servant raised her hand. “If I may interrupt, Master, scalpels are not used for either of those tasks. They are used for precise incisions, usually of the medical variety.”

Dia slammed her fist on her desk. “I know that, Saber! I’m just noting that if a scalpel were to be used as a weapon, it would be more effective at slashing than throwing!”

“Maybe it’s an Archer?” Saber said, shrugging.

Dia pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Just because a Servant throws a scalpel doesn’t mean that they’re an Archer, Saber. That would be like saying throwing swords would get you into the Archer class. That’s not how it works!”

Saber looked Dia dead in the eyes. “Are you sure about that, Master? Are you sure that’s a fact?”

Dia was taken aback. This was the first time Saber had ever said she was wrong. “W-what do you mean, Saber?”

Saber shrugged again, settling back into her former position of standing by the doorway. “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that anything could be an arrow if you look at it long enough.”

_I can’t tell if she’s trying to tell me something important or she’s actually just gone stupid._

“Regardless, it can’t be Archer; we’ve already seen her. Her Master is that red-haired girl, the new second-year transfer student.”

Saber contemplated that fact for a moment, then shook her head. “Nothing else comes to mind. The only Servants we have not managed to personally identify and confirm yet are Caster and Assassin. Maybe the one who killed your familiar was one of them?”

Dia nodded. “It has to be. My familiars are untouchable by normal humans; they’re just too fast. It had to be a Servant.” She looked back down at the scalpel in her hand. “You’re saying that one of those two was at wherever Lancer was headed?”

“Or even both,” Saber said. “After all, we have no idea what happened after we lost sight of them.” She walked over to Dia’s desk and cupped her cheek with a hand.

“What do you think you’re doing, Saber?!” Dia shrieked, feeling her face grow warm.

Saber smiled gently. “You’ve worked hard enough today, Master. Go get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, and I won’t be having my Master handicapped by sleep deprivation.”

Now that Saber mentioned it, Dia did notice that her mind was getting foggy. She let out a loud yawn. Her eyes ached, begging to be closed.

“All right, Saber, I’ll sleep. Keep a watch out and I’ll get to bed.”

Saber bowed solemnly, leaving the room so that Dia could prepare for sleep in peace.

* * *

 

Hanamaru had not gone to the bath liked she had promised. Instead, she had sneaked around the back of the courtyard, doing her best to keep in the shadows the entire time. She had felt a chill up her spine when she heard a sound from Ruby’s sister’s room but was relieved when, just a few short moments later, the light in her room went out.

_So I wasn’t discovered then. Good, I’ll need to make sure to keep it that way._

She continued to slink across the courtyard walls, staying close and inching forward ever so slightly so as to not catch any potential onlookers’ attention. She breathed a little sigh of relief when she got to the hidden back entrance of the Kurosawa’s residence without incident.

She managed to get onto the main road, still staying out of sight by ducking behind trees. She crawled on the ground, praying that no policemen would spot her and take her in as a runaway.

When she had finally reached her destination, she had to be careful to not step within the confines of the Bounded Field, lest she trigger the alarm that would alert her mother to her presence.

Yes, Hanamaru had been sneaking out every night in order to keep an eye on her mother.

_Even if I’ve already left her, I still want to make sure she’s all right._

The temple was silent, but a peaceful breeze wafted through the air. Despite herself, Hanamaru found a smile growing on her face. This sort of atmosphere never failed to calm her down.

Hanamaru just sat there, taking in the view of her family temple, enjoying the nostalgia washing over her. Then, she stood up, patting herself off. She took one last look at the temple.

“I miss you,” she said into the quiet night, hoping that the wind would carry her words to her mother. “I miss you a whole lot, zura.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue when and how often Ruby and Hanamaru refer to themselves in the third person, but I know they do it, so as a concrete rule for this fic Ruby only does it when she is talking to Dia and Hanamaru only does it when she is talking to Ruby. They just want to be cute to those people exclusively. I've been following this rule of mine since the prologue but I've never mentioned it.  
> Also, I have no clue how often Hanamaru says "zura." It's even harder to find a pattern because the zura per episode ratio almost doubled in season 2. I just sprinkled them in when I felt like they did not sound too weird. If anybody has any idea how often she says it, then feel free to leave a comment.


	12. Chapter 11: Day 2—Heed My Call, O’ Foul Demons: Summoning the True

Yoshiko was more than a little pissed off when she walked into the storage closet.

She had come to school rather early in the morning. It was not early enough to be seen as all that strange; there were people milling around, tending to the morning duties, but they were few and far between. It was perfect for Yoshiko’s scheme: just enough people so she would not stand out, but too few people to actually take notice of her. Despite it being perfectly normal for her to be there, Yoshiko’s back still stiffened when she walked past two of her classmates.

“There’s supposed to be a big assembly this morning,” Yoshiko overheard one of the girls say. “I wonder what it’s about.”

 _An assembly? That’s perfect!_ Yoshiko thought. _I can perform the ritual while everybody is at the assembly!_

She kept her head down as she walked, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. She hugged her school bag to her chest nervously.

She had tried minor spells before to some success, but this was her first serious dip into the occult. This was the first time she would be using some more… questionable ingredients. Yoshiko felt her hands trembling, unsure if it was either excitement or fear.

 _This spell… If it really works, will I regret it? Am I about to commit the biggest sin possible?_ She shook her head in an effort to recover her resolve. _No, I’ve already gone so far! I can’t back out now!_

Yoshiko opened the top of her bag slightly, just enough to see the pack of blood that she had stolen.

Sneaking into the hospital had been easy. Yoshiko was already a naturally pale girl due to her lifestyle of shutting herself up in her bedroom most of the time, so all she had needed to do was not eat breakfast and lunch and splash some water on her face. By the second to last class of the day, Yoshiko looked like she was half-dead and sweating buckets.

Her parents, paranoid as they were, immediately rushed her to a hospital in the neighboring city of Numazu. The doctor had diagnosed her with a mild case of malnutrition, dehydration, and anemia and said that he would send her home with a prescription for some supplements. Neither the doctor nor her parents noticed when she disappeared for just a moment, reappearing with a slight bulge in her pocket.

Yoshiko had ignored the lecture about keeping herself healthy and remembering to eat and sleep enough her mom gave her when she got home. She took the blood pack out of her pocket, stuffing it away into her school bag along with the Tsushima family grimoire.

After going through all of that trouble, it was perfectly understandable that Yoshiko would be enraged at the sight that lay before her.

Somebody had clearly come into the storage closet and tampered with her magic circle. It could not be a janitor; no janitor would make more of a mess for herself by spilling mercury all over the floor. Yoshiko clenched her fist. She had gone to great lengths to steal that mercury from the chemistry lab. It was another reminder that all of the effort she had put into the summoning ritual in the past few days had gone utterly to waste.

Yoshiko pulled out the blood pack and look at the dark red liquid inside. This was the final ingredient in the summoning ritual and she had to pretend that she was nearly dead in order to procure it. Her family and classmates were all worried about her now and what did she have to show for it? A puddle of mercury and a smudged chalk circle in a dark storage closet.

In frustration, Yoshiko threw the pouch at the floor with all her might. It was only when it burst open that Yoshiko realized she may have made a mistake. Luckily, Yoshiko had managed to dodge the spray, hopping backward out of the way. She did not want to think about the questions people would ask her if they saw blood on her shoes. The walls were not as lucky, getting splattered by red as if they were some grotesque canvas.

Yoshiko stared at the mess before her, a mix of crimson and silver, all of her hard work and preparation lost. She gritted her teeth and left the storage closet. It was somebody else’s problem now.

Yoshiko was unable to concentrate during the entire school day. She felt like somebody was watching her. She felt tingles on the back of her neck, like she was prey being stalked. However, every time she turned around in her seat, she just surprised the girl sitting behind her.

_She must think I’m a creep._

When Yoshiko heard the bell signaling the end of class, she turned again and tried to make eye contact, but the girl just averted her eyes.

 _Her cheeks are kind of flushed, aren’t they?_ Yoshiko thought. “Hey, are you alright? Are you sick? Your cheeks are red.”

The girl yelped. “I-it’s nothing, Yoshiko! I’m… I’m…” She hid her face behind her textbook, unable to finish saying what she had wanted to say.

Yoshiko gently grabbed the girl’s hand, trying to refrain screaming, “It’s Yohane!” in her face. The gesture made the girl’s face go even redder. “If you’re sick you should go to the nurse’s office. Come on, I’ll take you while we’re still on break.”

The girl looked dazed, nodding slowly, as if she were in a trance.

Yoshiko heard an annoyed sigh and the scraping sound of a chair being pushed back. Something hit her softly on the back of her head.

Yoshiko turned to see a brown-haired girl behind her, hand in the air as if she was performing a karate chop.

“Stop that, zura,” Hanamaru said. Despite the gentle smile on her face, Yoshiko could see the anger in her eyes.

Yoshiko let go of the girl’s hand, not sure as to why Hanamaru was so angry. “What’s wrong, Zuramaru?”

“You don’t realize the effect you have on girls, zura,” Hanamaru said simply.

The girl who sat behind Yoshiko stood up, leaving the room in a huff. Yoshiko heard some of her classmates whispering as they left the room for recess.

_“Yoshiko’s talking to that quiet weirdo. Think they’re friends?”_

_“Ugh, no way! Yoshiko is cool and that other one is… eww.”_

_“I know, right?”_

Yoshiko motioned to Hanamaru to follow her. When the two got onto the roof, Yoshiko punched a wall.

“Why do you let them say those things about you, Zuramaru?” Yoshiko started crying. Hot, angry tears streamed down her face. “Why do I let them say those things about you… I’m a failure as a friend…”

Hanamaru giggled, petting Yoshiko’s back. “I really don’t mind them saying those things about me. But it makes me happy that you want to protect me, zura.”

Yoshiko looked at the shorter girl. “Of course I want to protect you, Zuramaru. You’re even weirder than me.”

The bell rang, sending the two girls to their next class, neither of them aware of the amethyst eyes that had been watching the entire exchange.

Yoshiko sighed as she walked home. Pretending to be normal was always draining for her, especially after she saw all of her hard work go down the drain that morning. It had been a long day and Yoshiko wished she could just get home and lay down.

That was when she felt it again, like someone staring at the back of her neck. Someone was following her, she just knew it. She was about to whirl around to confront her stalker when she heard a voice. _“Don’t turn around if you value your life.”_

Yoshiko froze. That voice did not come from behind her like it should have. It had come from _inside_ her, as if the speaker was within her mind. The cold chill of fear ran down Yoshiko’s spine. Could she not even trust herself now? Was she going insane?

_“Keep walking.”_

Yoshiko did as she was told, trembling with every step. However, she felt a grin creeping onto her face. Was this a sign that she had succeeded, that a demon had been summoned? Had the botched ritual still managed to pull a denizen of Hell from its infernal landscape? _Well of course it would work,_ Yoshiko thought, _A magus as great as I can manage a summoning with even the most shoddy of setups!_

_“I will ask you three questions. First: what do you believe in?”_

_Happiness for everybody, no matter the cost,_ Yoshiko thought. It was not a lie, but it was not the whole truth either.

_“Second: are you prepared to persist in this, though you may have to cut another’s thread of life to do so?”_

_Of course. I did say “no matter the cost.”_

Silence followed for a few excruciatingly long seconds. Yoshiko stopped walking, fearful that she would miss the final question. She was so close!

_“Finally, the third. I ask of you: are you my Master?”_

_Yes,_ Yoshiko replied resolutely.

A flash of pain ripped through her mind. Yoshiko coughed, blood spraying out of her mouth. She looked down in horror at the bloody mass of scalpels that protruded from her belly.

Yoshiko opened her eyes. She was on the ground. She stood up, brushing herself off. She looked down, fearful of what she would see. However, there was nothing strange. Her clothes were clean and her torso was intact. She looked down at both hands, turning them over to examine them, noticing a sigil on the back of her right one.

 _What… happened?_ Yoshiko thought. _Was that all just a dream? Did I pass out on the way home to school? What’s up with this mark on my hand?_

Yoshiko did not want to think about it. She wanted to sleep, to wrap herself up in her blankets and drift into peaceful rest. Today had been a long day.

Yoshiko saw the stranger leaning against the front door to her house. Short red hair, deep purple eyes, and an outfit that looked that stereotypical female ninjas from the cheesy action flicks she used to watch. The stranger turned to Yoshiko.

“I am Servant Assassin. So long as you adhere to the words you have told me, I shall be as your shadow,” the stranger spoke, in the same voice as the one that had been in Yoshiko’s head earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been going back and fixing some errors that I noticed. Some notable changes include:  
> \- Giving any voices in heads both italics and quotation marks  
> \- Changed the month the story takes place from April to January, since there was a contradiction between Riko transferring at a strange time in the year and it being the beginning of the year (this also means that the reason that Chika goes into an empty library is because finals aren't coming up yet, instead of it being the beginning of the year)
> 
> Basically, there have been no real changes to the main story, but some continuity issues have been resolved.  
> I really need a beta reader...


	13. Chapter 12: Day 2—Of Territory Creation and Lap Pillows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...  
> I'm sorry about the unannounced month-long hiatus. Schoolwork has been destroying me recently. It took so long to finally get a chapter that I am somewhat happy to release.  
> Unfortunately, the amount of work I have will only pick up from here. I will continue to try to write and publish more often, but I have no promises on the release schedule. I will try for a chapter every one or two weeks but realistically expect monthly updates. Now, without further ado, onto this chapter that took too long to release...

Mari sat in the school chairperson’s office, humming a little tune to herself without a care in the world.

_“Master, somebody is approaching the office. Look alive.”_

Before Mari could press her Servant for more details, a familiar black-haired beauty burst into the office. Mari grinned upon recognizing her.

“Hey there, Dia. Long time no see!”

Dia did not reply. Instead, she glared at Mari, thrusting an accusatory finger in her direction. “Saber!”

A blur of blue and gold burst forward, appearing out of the air. Mari felt a rush of wind as a blade was slashed in front of her face. She calmly stepped back; after all, she had nothing to worry about. “Caster, if you would.”

A veiled figure appeared in front of Mari and raised her hand. The blade stopped short of completing a full arc, having been caught by Caster’s hand, stopping the charging Servant in her tracks. Mari noted the long blonde hair and icy blue eyes. _Those will probably be important hints toward her true identity._

Saber wrenched her sword out of Caster’s grip. She sheathed it, keeping her hand on the grip, ready to strike.

“So you are a Master…” Dia said, sounding saddened.

Mari nodded. “Oh course, Dia. But let’s not dwell on that! It’s been far too long! We haven’t seen each other in years!”

Dia just stared at her. “How can you be so calm? We’re supposed to kill each other! How can you speak to your potential killer like a friend?!”

“Because you are my friend.”

Mari walked over to Dia, putting a hand on her shoulder. She felt Dia stiffen under her hand, but she did nothing to pull away. Saber began to draw her blade.

“At ease, Saber,” Dia commanded, “She means no harm.”

Saber nodded solemnly, turning her attention to the other Servant in the room, blushing as she noticed the other Servant’s state of dress. “Put something on, Caster. Have you no shame?”

Caster looked down at her outfit, nothing more than a short piece of purple fabric wrapped around her hips and a tight black top that did little to hide her ample bosom. “What’s wrong, Saber-chi? Can’t take your eyes off of me? See something you like?”

“As if,” Saber replied, closing her eyes and turning up her nose with a little huff. “Why would I be interested in a common seductress such as yourself?”

Mari ignored the bickering between the two Servants. Saber obviously had a thing for Caster, even if she was fervently denying it. She returned her attention to Dia. “So, why exactly are you here?”

Dia grit her teeth. “Remove the Bounded Field that Caster has set up around the school. You know we aren’t supposed to involve outsiders in this.”

“Of course,” Mari agreed. “But being at surrounded by civilians bring so many upsides as well. For example, Saber won’t be able to use her Noble Phantasm against me. That puts you two at a remarkable disadvantage.”

Saber turned away from her bickering with Caster to look at Mari. She had gone pale—well, paler than she already was anyway. “What do you know about my Noble Phantasm?”

Mari put a finger to her chin, pretending to ponder it. “What do I know? Well, to be truthful, nothing. But I do know about the Sabers summoned in past Wars, so I can take a good guess at what your Noble Phantasm is. It’s probably either an Anti-Army or Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm, am I right?”

Mari saw Saber gulp. _I’ll take that as a yes._

“Regardless of which one of those it is, you cannot use that here unless you want to cause major civilian casualties.” Mari put her hands on her hips and smirked, proud of her deductions.

Saber put her hand on her sword’s grip, clutching at it so hard her knuckles went white. “Even without my Noble Phantasm, I could still cut down both you and Caster where you stand.”

“But that isn’t true now, is it, Saber-chi?” Caster said. She pulled out a deck of tarot cards and fiddled with it. “Not in this Bounded Field anyway. That’s why you had your Master come and try to get us to take it down, isn’t it?”

Saber glared at her. “We want to minimize civilian casualties.”

Mari sighed. “This is getting us nowhere. You already got one of the things you wanted, didn’t you Dia? Confirming that I’m Caster’s Master?”

Dia nodded. “Let’s go, Saber. We’re done here.”

“But Master!” Saber turned on Dia, looking angry.

“But what, Saber?” Dia said coldly.

Saber looked down. “Nothing, Master. Nothing at all.” She faded away, dispersing her physical form into mana in the air.

Dia turned to leave the office.

“Come back soon!” Mari said.

Dia looked over her shoulder, a smirk appearing on her face. “Oh, don’t worry. I intend to come back _very_ soon. And next time, I won’t hesitate to slice your throat personally.”

* * *

 

Ruby was surprised to hear the door slam. Her sister _never_ slammed the door, always going on and on about making sure not to damage any of their property. _She must be pretty mad._

Ruby had a sneaking suspicion of the cause of her sister’s anger. She had been there at the school assembly that morning as well and had also seen the announcement of the new chairperson. Not only was the current chairperson, who had effectively allowed Dia to run the school, been replaced, but there was also the fact that she had been replaced by none other than Mari Ohara, former student and childhood friend to Dia. What made this development even worse was that this basically confirmed that Mari was a Master in the War. Dia had been silent all day and even told Ruby and Hanamaru to go on home without her.

“Was that Dia?” Hanamaru asked, lifting her head from Ruby’s lap. Ruby had completely forgotten that she had given her sleepy-looking best friend her lap as a pillow. She had also forgotten that she was absent-mindedly stroking her fingers through Hanamaru’s hair.

“Quick Hanamaru, get off of me!” Ruby said panicked. Hanamaru rolled over onto the other side of the bed, looking hurt. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let Dia know about us!”

“Maru understands, Ruby.”

From the look on her face, Ruby could tell that understanding did not make the sudden rejection hurt any less. She lowered herself closer to Hanamaru’s ear. “We’ll cuddle later, okay?”

Hanamaru’s cheek flared red. She nodded silently.

Ruby walked outside toward the sound of angry shouting.

“She has the _gall_ to turn our _school_ into her atelier?! She’s basically holding _hostages_!” Each angry statement was punctuated by a sharp, heavy thud and the creaking of wood. Ruby was afraid that Dia would actually break the wall she was throwing her fist into.

“...Sis?” Ruby called out hesitantly.

Dia whirled around, the anger melting off of her face, getting replaced by joy. “Ruby! How was your day?”

_Is she really going to act like I did not just see that?_

“Fine. How was your’s?”

Dia’s expression darkened. “Fine, totally fine!” she muttered through gritted, clenched teeth.

_You’re not convincing anyone…_

“Aren’t you happy Mari’s back?”

Dia exploded, unable to keep it in any longer, confirming Ruby’s suspicions.

“I”LL KILL HER, THAT DAMN BLONDE FOREIGN WHO-! Mmgh!”

Dia was cut off by a pale hand covering her mouth. “Don’t go saying anything you will regret in the future, Master,” Saber said disapprovingly. Dia nodded, prompting Saber to remove her hand.

“I’m sorry Ruby, I did not want you to see that.”

 _So she’s still upset about_ that _time._

“Sis, Ruby’s sure that Mari didn’t mean it.”

Dia sighed. “I know, Ruby. Trust me, I know. But I’m scared…” Dia began to break down. “What if she still doesn’t forgive me? I don’t…” Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. “I don’t want either of us to die on such bad terms!”

Ruby shook her head. “Sis, Ruby’s sure that neither you nor Mari will die. Ruby will do everything in her power to ensure that.”


	14. Chapter 13: Day 2—Today’s Menu for the Second Years (and Kanan, I Guess)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the infrequent updates. Unfortunately, I won't be able to increase my upload rate anytime soon. Please bear with me and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

_A single figure stood at the horizon…_

_“Where am I?” Chika called out._

_The figure began to turn, her face still shadowed._

_“Please! I need to get out of here!” Chika called out desperately, snow and hail buffeting her battered body. She was tired. She just wanted to sleep…_

_Chika tried to walk forward, but was unable to. She turned and, in horror, realized a hand was grabbing her ankle. Desperately, she tried to shake off the grip, struggling to get free._

_Another hand burst from the snow, and another, and another. Chika felt herself being pulled down from the weight of countless grasping hands. She was drowning, drowning in the numerous limbs that grabbed at every inch of her body. She could not move, could not even scream. All she could do was watch._

_Chika watched helplessly as the shadowy figure appeared above her, raising her sword…_

Chika opened her eyes to see a beautiful pair of deep blue eyes.

“Good morning, Master. Feeling all better now?”

“Oh, is she awake? Perfect timing,” a voice called out, sounding bored.

Chika turned her head to face the speaker and shrieked in horror.

“Hey, hey! What’s the big deal?” Assassin said, shifting the silver tray she held to one hand, using the other to adjust the frilly pink apron that draped her tiny body. “You’re way too loud!”

Chika continued to scream.

“Master, calm down! You’re safe here, there’s nothing to worry about!” A hand stroked Chika’s hair, running its fingers through her orange locks. The sensation sent tingles down Chika’s spine, calming her down.

 _What is going on?_ Chika thought, still disoriented. The dream had felt so _real_. Hadn’t she almost just been beheaded? She could still feel the cold snow pressing against her back.

An ashen-haired girl poked her head into the room. “She’s awake? Hey everyone, she’s awake!” Chika heard Lancer call out over her shoulder.

Chika heard the sound of feet pounding against the wooden floor get louder and louder before she was jumped by a weeping You. “Chika! You’re awake!”

Chika sat up, still embraced by her sobbing best friend. “Of course I am, You. But never mind that!” Chika thrust an accusatory finger in Assassin’s direction. “She’s dangerous!”

Assassin rolled her eyes. “Oh please. I wouldn’t hurt a fly.” She walked over and pushed You off of Chika. You make an indignant cry in protest, but Assassin just glared at her. “She’s still recovering. Don’t be so rough with her.” You sighed and nodded, plopping herself next to Chika in the bed. With the space cleared, Assassin set the silver platter onto Chika’s lap and lifted the lid.

The smell hit Chika before she could even register what she was seeing. It was such a barrage of scents that Chika felt stunned for a moment. There was only one way to describe the scent: delicious.

Laid out before her was a selection of every breakfast food Chika could think of, from Western-style omelettes and toast to the more traditional fish and rice. How so much food could even fit on a single platter boggled Chika’s mind.

“Is this… for me?” Chika sputtered.

Assassin put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest in pride, a smug smirk on her lips. “Impressed? You shouldn’t be; I am the number one Idol Spirit in the universe, after all. It’s only natural that I could make such marvelous dishes.”

“Didn’t you say that you ordered all of this food? You said you didn’t know how to cook because you were waited on hand and foot in life,” said the voice behind Chika.

Assassin shrunk back. “I-I mean… Yeah! I… I had my servants make this for me!”

“Just admit that you made it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Chika turned away from the food to look at the person behind her, just now noticing that she was pressing her back against the other’s chest.

_She’s really here. That confirms it, if Assassin’s presence didn’t already._

“Avenger?” Chika asked cautiously.

The Servant stopped her squabbling with Assassin to look at Chika. “Is there something wrong, Master?”

“...What happened last night?”

The smile melted off of Avenger’s face. “Uh, well… You see…” she said, rubbing the back of her head nervously, “There was… a fight.”

“A fight?” Chika asked, not sure if she wanted to hear all of the gory details.

“...Maybe we destroyed the entire courtyard of your inn.”

Chika felt dizzy. _What am I going to do? What will happen when Mom finds out? How will I possibly clean it all up?_

It was at this moment that Chika realized that the sheets she was lying in were not the ones she was accustomed to.

“Avenger, where are we right now?” Chika asked, growing more panicked. She was not even in her own house, so who knows where she could be?

“Chika, calm down, you’re at my place.” The voice came from the doorway. Chika looked over to see Kanan leaning against the door frame, looking cool and composed. “I brought you here because it’s the safest place for you to be at the moment.”

“Kanan?” Chika could vaguely remember the older girl hugging her. “What’s going on?”

Kanan looked to Assassin, who just shrugged as if to say, _She’s your problem, not mine._

Kanan sighed. “Alright, Chika. Listen up, because what I’m about to tell you will be the difference between you living and dying in the coming days.”

* * *

 

Kanan clenched her right fist, raising it to Chika’s face. “See these?” she asked as she pointed to the Command Spells that adorned the back of her hand. “These are what tie you and your Servant together.”

“Wait, Servant?” Chika asked, utterly confused.

Kanan let out a long, heavy sigh. _So we need to start all the way back there, do we?_

“Chika, in this ritual—we magi call it the Holy Grail War—we summon powerful spirits, known as Servants.” Kanan pointed a finger at the girl who was stroking her hair. “She’s yours. Avenger, was it?”

Avenger nodded and prompted Kanan to continue.

“I’ve never heard of an Avenger Servant before, but it is possible to summon a Servant outside of the standard seven classes.”

“The standard seven?”

Kanan groaned. “You don’t even know that? I guess you wouldn’t. Well, they are-”

“Assassin, Caster, Rider, Berserker, Saber, Lancer, and… Archer,” Avenger cut in. She paused at the end. Was it Chika’s imagination or was there a bitter edge to Avenger’s voice?

Kanan nodded. “Not the typical order of the list, but yeah, those are the seven classes.”

Chika’s head was spinning. Servants? Magi? Holy Grail War? It was all too much for the poor girl. Her head began throbbing again from the information overload, making her clutch her head in pain.

Kanan noticed Chika’s actions and her eyes softened. “Get some rest. You must still be exhausted after last night. You’re safe here, so rest up.” And with that, Kanan left the room, leaving Chika to ponder in silence.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Chika?” Chika had almost forgotten that You was there, what with her being so quiet the entire time.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The look on You’s face told Chika that she clearly did not believe her. _Quick, change the topic!_ “Where’s Riko? She was there last night too, right?”

You’s expression soured instantly. “She’s here too. Not sure exactly where, but she’s here.”

* * *

 

“You don’t want to visit her, Master?” Archer asked the distracted-looking Riko.

Riko shook her head. “I don’t deserve to. I wasn’t there when she needed me… I got there too late…”

“Master, there was nothing you could have done. Don’t beat yourself over it; it’s not your fault.”

“But-!”

“But nothing, Master! Visit her. Be right there when she wakes up. You can still be there when she needs you, unlike… me…” Archer paused and scowled.

“Did you say something, Archer?” Riko asked, concerned.

“No… No, it’s nothing. I… I just thought I remembered something, but it is gone now.”

Just as Riko was about to question Archer further, the conversation was cut short by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Riko and Archer turned around to see Lancer twirling her spear between her fingers nonchalantly. Riko would never get used to seeing the Servant wield a spear while wearing a maid outfit.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this Master-Servant bonding time, but Avenger’s Master has woken up.”

Archer nodded silently. Lancer turned and walked away without another word.

“What happened between you two?” Riko asked.

“I… don’t know. But we have a truce, for now at least.” Archer sighed. “Be there for her. Show that you care about her.”

Before Riko could protest, Archer’s form dissipated into thin air, leaving Riko alone with only her thoughts for company.


	15. Chapter 14: Day 2—An Old Friend Pays a Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, I managed to get some free time and write this chapter. Enjoy this earlier-than-expected update!

Whatever Kanan had been expecting to see when she answered the door, a fuming Dia Kurosawa was definitely not it.

The doorbell had rung shortly after Kanan left the guest room she was lending to Chika. _Who could it be at this time of day? School isn’t over yet and we aren’t in diving season…_ Kanan thought to herself. Curious, she walked over to the front door and opened it. The moment she did, she knew that she had made a critical mistake.

Dia stood in front of her, arms crossed. Next to her was a blonde, foreign-looking girl. When Kanan noticed that said girl was clad in shiny armor, her whole body went into panic mode. _A Servant?! Here?! I need to protect everyone!_

 _Assassin, please! Help me keep everyone safe!_ Kanan mentally begged while calmly saying aloud, “My my, student council president. Skipping out on school for once? Are you here to deliver all of the schoolwork that I’ve missed?”

Dia continued to glare. “Cut the act, Matsuura. I’m here to discuss something with you, but if you will insist on being difficult, I will have Saber cut you down where you stand.”

“So you are one of the Masters, as I expected.” Kanan didn’t know how to feel about the situation. She had cut her ties with both the Kurosawa and Ohara heirs long ago when her family had forbidden their friendship and she had already mentally prepared herself to fact that they were essentially guaranteed spots as Masters in the Grail War, so why did her heart still ache a bit at the confirmation that she would have to face Dia in combat?

“From your tone of voice, I will hazard a guess that you are a Master as well. Not that I did not know that already.” Dia puffed out her chest, apparently very proud of herself for her correct deduction. “After all, unless you were an absolute invalid of a magus, the Grail was always going to choose you.”

 _The Founding Families always get a spot in the Grail War._ Kanan knew that fact; it had been engraved into her memory since her childhood. _I won’t have you becoming too friendly with your future enemies, Kanan._

 _Assassin…_ Kanan silently pleaded. Still no response. She was afraid: afraid that if Dia stood before her any longer, she would lose her nerve and be unable to go through with _it_.

She tried desperately to avoid thinking the words “kill Dia Kurosawa.”

“Well, what did you need to discuss? You might as well come in.”

Dia shook her head. “How stupid do you think I am? There is no way that I am going to walk into an enemy Master’s atelier unprepared. Besides, this will only take a minute.

How about you and I form an alliance?”

Kanan blinked. She had not been expecting this. _Today is sure full of surprises…_ she thought to herself.

“Why?”

Dia rolled her eyes, which looked strange coming from someone as dignified as her. “Isn’t obvious? Having allies means not having enemies, for the time being. Besides, I know you’re harboring some amateurs in this shack of yours.”

Kanan felt herself go pale. _So Dia knows about Chika, You, and Riko? Of course she would; the Kurosawas have eyes everywhere._ “So… what about them?”

“Despite being inexperienced magi at best, they still hold the other two Knight-class Servants. That makes them dangerous contenders in the war by default. Now, if you would, please call out You Watanabe and Riko Sakurauchi.”

 _Only those two… Could it be?!_ Kanan thought selfishly, _Could it be that Dia does not know about Chika?!_

She mentally slapped herself. _No, that’s wrong. I can’t leave those two to Dia. I swore I would protect them and I do_ not _plan on backing out on that promise._

 _But… Just maybe…_ “What do you need us for? I will not call them over without you first revealing your grand plan.”

Dia sighed but relented. “You’re right. If you are to agree, it is only fair that you understand what you are getting into.

"To put it bluntly, Mari is back.”

Kanan gulped. “And?”

“Mari summoned Caster. As you know, it is the class that specializes in Territory Creation. You wouldn’t know because you’ve been away from school, but Mari has become the new chairwoman of Uranohoshi Girls’ High School.”

“Y-you don’t mean..!”

“Yes, I do,” Dia said. “She has effectively taken the entire school hostage.”

“She knows we can’t involve non-magi in the War!”

“Indeed she does,” Dia replied. “I don’t know what her scheme is, but this effectively means that Mari is untouchable as of this point.”

“But… why do you need my help?” Kanan wasn’t sure how she could contribute anything to this situation.

Dia shook her head. “I don’t. I need the help of your wards. Between their Lancer and Archer and my Saber, we have all three Knight-class Servants. The Knights have innate Magic Resistance. They, unlike other Servants, will be able to penetrate Caster’s Bounded Field. My plan is to eliminate Caster as quickly as possible as to keep the damage contained.”

“So, why exactly can’t I help?” Kanan asked indignantly.

Dia replied in a tone that reminded Kanan of an adult talking down to a child: cold and logical. “I haven’t confirmed it, but by process of elimination, your Servant is Assassin. I have no need for such a _useless_ Servant.”

Kanan grit her teeth. Indirectly, this was a diss at her. _Who does she think she is?! Walking onto_ my _property and implying that_ I’m _worthless! Does our bad blood really run this deep?!_

“No.” Kanan huffed.

Dia lifted an eyebrow. “No? Is that your final answer?”

“That’s right, _no_ . I refuse to put my underclassmen in danger to help _you_ . Now get away from my home and don’t even _think_ about laying a finger on them.”

Dia shrugged. “I gave you your chance. If you aren’t my ally, then you’re my enemy.” Dia turned her back to Kanan. “Come, Saber. We have no more business here.”

Kanan closed her front door, still steaming with anger inside.

“An interesting proposition to be sure, but you were right in refusing her, Master.”

Kanan whirled around. “Assassin! Were you there the whole time?! Why didn’t you come to me when I called you?!”

“I knew you would regret it if I attacked that girl mercilessly. She was offering an alliance and I wanted to see if you would take it.” Assassin then got an evil look on her face. “I will admit, I almost revealed myself when she called me ‘useless.’”

“I almost wish you did,” Kanan said wistfully. Assassin looked at Kanan quizzically. “So, you have some history with that girl? Tell me about it. The more I know about our enemies, the better.”

* * *

 

“Hanamaru!” Dia called out as she walked into her home.

She had not been surprised when Kanan had refused her offer. In fact, she was grateful that Kanan had even heard her out in the first place. Despite how cold she had acted, Dia did not hate Kanan. Far from it, in fact: Dia had to use every ounce of her self-control to restrain herself from breaking down and jumping into Kanan’s arms.

_I just wish we could go back to the good old days… Go back to the way we used to be… All three of us…_

Saber had stayed quiet on the way home. She knew about Dia’s alternate plan and had already voiced her complaints just to have them all shot down one-by-one, so she didn’t exactly have much to say. However, Dia could feel the disapproval radiate off of her Servant even as she remained silent.

_As long as I don’t have to expend a Command Spell to have her go along with this plan, I don’t care what she thinks of it._

Dia pondered all of this as she waited for her sister’s friend to appear before her. When she finally did (Why did she come from Ruby’s room?), she asked breathlessly, “What is it, zura?”

Dia eyed Hanamaru up. Her hair was tousled and her clothes were haphazardly wrapped around her tiny frame. She really could not see this mouse of a girl as one of the Church’s elite Executors.

Regardless, she was more than that now. Aside from Saber, Hanamaru and her Servant were instrumental to Dia’s plan.

“Hanamaru, I want you to get ready. Tomorrow night, we will engage in the first battle of this Holy Grail War.”


	16. Chapter 15: Day 2—A Quiet Moment

Riko did not work up her courage to talk to Chika until the sun set.

She had called her mom the night before to tell her that she would be staying at a friend’s place for a few nights. Her mother had sounded both worried and excited; Riko suspected that she had not expected her to make a friend so quickly in their new town, much less get on friendly enough terms to stay the night. After reassuring her mom that, no, she did not need a new change of clothes and, yes, she had all the toiletries she would need for her stay, Riko hung up the phone and sighed.

She really did not want to visit her mom for the next few days. After getting briefed on this whole “Holy Grail War” business, Riko did not want her mom involved in any of this dangerous mess.

 _It’s pretty sad that it took possible death for me to finally realize how much I appreciate her,_ Riko thought.

She had then spent the rest of the day agonizing over what she should say to Chika. She felt like a stranger, the odd one out in the group. Kanan had told her that she and Chika were childhood friends. You stuck to Chika like glue ever since they were kids, so Kanan, Chika, and You were all very close to each other. Riko felt like she didn’t have the right to butt in on their friendship.

She wasn’t blind. She could see that You wasn’t exactly happy at how quickly Chika had taken to her. Riko respected her feelings; she would hate it if her best friend all but completely abandoned her for some new girl. But, despite her sympathy toward You, she just couldn’t find it in herself to stay away from Chika. She was simply too _intriguing_.

_That still doesn’t answer the question: what am I going to say to her?_

“Hey, what are you doing out here?”

Chika’s voice made Riko jump.

_Well, guess I had to face her eventually. Here goes nothing!_

“Thinking about how I would face you.” The moment the words tumbled out of her lips, she mentally slapped herself.

If Chika was surprised, her face did not show it. “What for?” she asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

Riko looked away. “I abandoned you. Aren’t you mad?”

Chika stared at her blankly. “What are you talking about? If anything, I abandoned you.”

“Y-you aren’t mad that I didn’t walk home with you?” Riko stuttered disbelievingly.

“Of course not!” Chika exclaimed. “I’m the one who left you, after all. If anything, you should be mad at me.” Chika lowered her head. “Kanan told me what happened. Maybe if I hadn’t run off on you, You wouldn’t have attacked you.”

The mention of You made Riko’s blood run cold. It was true that it had been You’s Servant who had attacked her last night. However, Riko had not actually seen You anywhere near Lancer. However, from the way that Lancer had been talking, it was clear that You had meant her harm. Riko had been avoiding You the whole time because she did not want to confront her about Lancer’s actions. Riko would have been completely justified if she was angry at the gray-haired girl, but in her heart she could only feel pity toward her. After all, Riko was the one intruding on a perfectly good friendship.

“I’m sure You didn’t mean any harm by it. There has to be a reason. She wouldn’t attack me without one.” Riko was not sure why she was defending You, but she felt like it was her duty. She decided not to mention the dirty glares that You had been giving her all of yesterday.

Chika put a finger to her chin. “You mean, like, that Lancer was attacking without You’s permission?”

Riko shrugged. “Maybe You didn’t know how to. Control her, I mean. Both she and I just found out about magi yesterday, so it’s possible.” That reminded Riko of something Kanan had said. “So, you already know magecraft?”

Chika scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “Not really. Kanan only ever taught me the basics. I can barely even handle that. Here, hold out your hand.”

Riko extended a hand, which Chika grasped gingerly with her fingertips. “Shine on,” she whispered.

Riko felt a tingling feeling spread across her hand, starting from the point where her and Chika’s hands made contact. She noticed a soft glow coming off of Chika’s arms. Upon closer inspection, she yelped. Chika had glowing orange lines running up and down her arms, like luminescent veins.

“W-what are those?”

“My Magic Circuits,” Chika replied, “What few I have, anyway. Kanan said that it was impressive that I even had this many and that they are of such good quality, considering my family has no magical background.”

“Does ancestry matter a lot for magi then?” As far as Riko knew, she did not have even a speck of magus blood in her.

“Yeah, it’s probably the biggest deal to magi. I don’t really know how to explain it, but magi kind of pass down their talents from generation to generation, so the older the family, the stronger their magecraft.” Chika smiled. “Kanan’s actually pretty powerful apparently.”

Riko felt reassured by Chika’s statement. “In that case, we’re pretty safe now that we’re with her, right?”

Chika’s expression darkened. “I’m… not sure.” She pulled her hands away from Riko’s. Riko had not even noticed that Chika was still holding it. She flexed her fingers, dismayed to find them a little numb. “Theoretically, we should be the strongest faction in the War. There should only be seven Masters and we total four here, so we have the numbers advantage on anyone. Not only that, but between you and You, we also control Archer and Lancer.”

“Is there something particularly special about Archer and Lancer?”

Chika nodded at her in understanding. “It makes sense that you wouldn’t know. Kanan only just gave me the crash course, so of course you’d still be completely in the dark.” Chika looked at Riko with concern in her eyes. “Is this too much? I can stop if you’re tired.”

Riko shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine, really! I feel like I should learn about this anyway. So, you were saying?”

Chika nodded. “What was I talking about…? Oh, right! So, Archer and Lancer, they’re considered part of the ‘Knight’ classes, which are usually the strongest of the seven classes available.”

“What exactly are the seven classes?” Riko wanted to make sure she knew exactly what kind of War she had been dragged into. So far, she was following along pretty well, despite Chika’s inconsistent, unfiltered stream of thought. Normally, Riko would not be able to follow such an incoherent jumble of information, but when it came out of Chika’s mouth, it just felt so easy to understand.

“Let’s see, Kanan just made me memorize it. So there’s Archer and Lancer, along with Saber—they make up the Knight-class Servants—Assassin, Caster, Rider, and…” Chika trailed off, brow furrowed in concentration. She had been counting on her fingers and seem frustrated that she had only managed to raise six fingers so far. Suddenly, a smile crossed her lips and she snapped her fingers. “Right, Berserker!” Chika proudly put her hands to her hips. “That makes seven!”

 _She’s so adorable,_ Riko thought, feeling her face get hot at the thought. Her legs went a bit weak and she almost fell over.

The reaction had not gone unnoticed by Chika. She frowned and asked, “Are you sure you’re alright? You look a little red.” Chika pressed her forehead to Riko’s. Riko screamed internally but managed to keep her mouth from making a sound. “You’re burning up!” Chika cried in alarm. “You’re going to bed right now, doctor’s orders!”

“But wait-!” Chika ignored Riko’s protests and grabbed her hand, dragging her through Kanan’s house.

“No buts! You’re getting into bed and that’s final!”

Riko _did_ admit that she was feeling a bit sick all of a sudden. Her body felt heavy, aching all over as if she were fifty years older than she actually was. She was so, so tired. Chika dragged her into a room that Riko hazily registered as the same room Chika had been resting in earlier that day. She did not even remember getting onto the bed, but the next thing she knew she was sinking into the cold embrace of unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys wait a month for this new chapter and it's just fluff. I'm so sorry. The next chapter has a lot of things happening, so please stick around!


	17. Chapter 16: Day 2—Doubt

Archer watched in horror as her Master all but collapsed. She had been proud, of course, that her Master had followed her advice and confronted Avenger’s Master. She had done it without much prodding as well (not that Archer was not hanging around in her spirit form, just to make sure). Her Master’s unresolved feelings could prove to be a hindrance in battle. It was a strategic move, nothing more. Archer was above the matters of the heart but knew that they still drove human action.

But, no matter how much she told herself this, Archer could not help but to smile a bit at the display, even if it  _ was _ a bit shameless.

Something in her stirred. This friendship between the two Masters, with its potential to be something more, it caused an itch in her head. Something was there, she just knew it. She had experienced something like this once. Had it been when she was alive? When exactly?

Something had gone wrong with the summoning. Servants were supposed to be summoned from the Throne with  _ more _ knowledge, not a tangled, hazy, mess that was impossible to decipher. She knew about this era, but it was not the Throne’s foreign database invading her mind. It was  _ hers _ , personal knowledge that  _ she _ knew. That told her one thing; she had lived in a time not far from this one.

But then, when did she die? If only she had the time or resources to do research. She could not have died long ago. Who was she? Even if she did, did it even matter?

Archer had every bit of her identity stripped from her. She did not even know if she was acting how she normally would when she was alive. What did it matter who she had been in the past?

Archer concentrated on the one aspect of her being that had not been perverted by her summoning: her True Name. It was some reassurance that she had once lived, that she was not merely a wandering soul lost in the crossroads between dimensions. Once, she had been someone. But was she still that very same someone?

Could Archer really, honestly, truly still call herself Umi Sonoda?

Her contemplation was interrupted quite abruptly by a sudden shift in her mana supply. She looked up to see her Master stumble. Avenger’s Master looked at her in worry, then touched her forehead to her Master’s.

Archer blushed. Now  _ this _ was shameless. How could they?!

Archer’s embarrassment was quickly replaced with alarm. Avenger’s Master had dragged her into a room. Archer could feel the slowing of her supply of mana coming from her Master. What had once been a slow, burbling stream was now a mere trickle from a faucet.

“You did that, you know.”

Archer ignored the voice. Nobody could see her, so there was no way that she was being addressed.

“Archer, I’m talking to you. I know you’re there.”

Archer materialized in her physical form while turning to see who was talking to her. Her gaze lingered for a moment on the person’s brownish-orange and deep blue eyes.

Avenger. Something about this Servant made her feel… right. Every time Archer laid her eyes on her, she felt her mind trying to reach for memories, but it always grabbed at nothing but empty space. Avenger provoked feelings of happiness and sadness, anger and frustration, hate and even  _ love _ . But as her mind futilely clawed at the darkest recesses of her mind, trying to discover some,  _ any _ memories to associate with the outpouring of emotions, she was left feeling… hollow. Just one more reason why Archer and Umi Sonoda were two fundamentally different people.

But her Master’s wellbeing was her top priority and first concern. She was merely a weapon: weapons can be tossed away and forgotten, but the wielder cannot be so easily replaced. Weapons do not have feelings.

“What do you mean?” Archer asked hesitantly. She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what Avenger was going to say.

“I’m saying that you’re killing her. Riko, that is.”

Archer bristled at the way Avenger had so casually uttered her Master’s name. “Who gave you permission to say her name?”

Avenger shrugged. “Chika. She wants all of us Servants to get closer to each other and to ‘cultivate friendships’ or something. Frankly, I don’t see the point, but I’m more than willing to humor her.” Avenger snapped her fingers. “But nevermind that. You’re draining Riko, slowly but surely. You may be efficient, and Independent Action may supply you with a mana ‘battery’ of sorts, but your Master is still no magus. She does not have a single Magic Circuit to her name, not one.”

“If she isn’t a magus, then how did she summon me?”

“Simple,” Avenger said, smirking. “This game is cruel and the Grail is broken. Nothing is as it should be.”

“What are you proposing then?” Archer asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. Avenger had an ulterior motive, she was sure of it.

“This.” With unavoidable agility, Avenger put her hand on the back of Archer’s head and pulled her close, locking lips with her.

Archer pulled back instantly, but she had still felt Avenger’s tongue slip into her mouth for a slip second. She spat, rubbing her lips, trying to wipe away any and all traces of Avenger’s shamelessness. She tasted metal. It was blood, she realized. Avenger had bitten her own tongue to feed Archer a bit of her blood.

“W-what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Mana transfer,” Avenger said without batting an eye. “Unlike you, I have a magus for a Master. She might not have many Magic Circuits, but they’re of surprisingly good quality, all things considered. Don’t you feel a bit stronger now?”

Now that she thought about it, Archer did feel stronger. It was like a huge weight was lifted from her body.  _ So this is what it’s like to have a proper supply of mana… _

“But wait, if you can perform mana transfers,” Archer said slowly, “does that mean you also have Magic Circuits, Avenger?”

Avenger averted her gaze, as if she was trying to hide something. “We’re done here,” she said abruptly. She turned and walked off before dissolving into the air, taking on her spirit form.

Archer would have followed had she not felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. It felt… black, for lack of a better word.

* * *

 

“What is Dia making you do, Hanamaru?” Ruby asked again desperately.

_ “Whatever you do, make sure not to tell Ruby what your mission is,” _ Dia had said.  _ “For her safety, as well as yours.” _

“I’m sorry, zura. Dia told me that I can’t tell you.”

“Why are you two keeping secrets from me?!” Ruby screamed.

Hanamaru flinched. It was not often that Ruby would let herself get angry. She hated herself for hurting Ruby.

_ “For her safety, as well as yours,” _ Dia’s voice echoed in her head once more.

“I can’t, zura.”

Ruby deflated. She turned her face to the floor, refusing to meet Hanamaru’s gaze any longer. “Fine,” she muttered, “if that’s how it is, fine. Keep your secrets.”

“Wait, Ruby!”  _ Just tell her! Don’t leave me, please! _ “Please! Just let me explain!”

Ruby shook her head. “Go.”

Hanamaru just stood there. “Go! Go on!” Ruby yelled, eyes still on the floor. “Get out of my sight!”

Hanamaru did just that, walking out of the room and toward the stairs leading to the basement. Just before she got out of earshot, Hanamaru heard soft sobbing, but she was too upset to turn back and check if Ruby was okay.

Hanamaru had a duty to fulfill and she would be fully prepared for it. She did not need Ruby distracting her. This was for her protection, her own good.

Hanamaru opened the basement door, a rickety old thing that stood in stark contrast to the polished wood of the doorframe. While everything else in the Kurosawa residence was constantly replaced to keep up with the times, this one door and the room beyond it had never been touched since the initial construction of the house. This was the true atelier of the Kurosawas, where they stored their magical research throughout the generations.

Hanamaru stared into the darkness of the basement. The only light source was the faint red glow of the runes that were inscribed on all of the walls. A faint shadow lay in the middle of the room, unmoving. Hanamaru stuck her hand through the doorway, feeling a slight resistance that gave way when she exerted just a bit more force. She instinctually flinched as her hand made its way past the doorway.

This was the Bounded Field that Dia had set up the day Hanamaru had summoned her Servant. She remembered the look on the elder Kurosawa sister’s face when she heard Hanamaru’s addition to the summoning chant.

_ “What do you think you’re doing?!” Dia yelled. Her eyes looked panicked. “You don’t have the Magic Circuits to sustain such a-” _

_ Dia was interrupted by an explosion from the summoning circle in the middle of the room. The explosion kicked up dust and obscured the two girls’ vision. Hanamaru heard the reverberations in the air as the Bounded Field that Dia had set up to keep Ruby out prevented the force of the explosion from escaping the basement. Before Hanamaru could get regain her senses, she felt two hands close around her neck. _

_ The first things she saw were the glowing eyes. They looked feline in nature, with slit-like dilations. Hanamaru struggled. Her mind could not process what was happening. She saw Dia frantically mouth something. Only later would Hanamaru realize that Dia was yelling, “Command Spell!” _

_ Hanamaru noticed flecks of red flying up. She saw Dia’s Servant Saber relentlessly slashing away at the assailant’s back. However, the grip around Hanamaru’s neck did not loosen one bit. In fact, it seemed to be getting tighter. _

_ More vibrations shook the room. Both Hanamaru and her assailant turned their heads toward the source. Standing in the doorway were Ruby and her Servant, both desperately pounding on the wall of the Bounded Field, trying to get Dia to let them in. _

_ Hanamaru had nearly blacked out at this point. The last thing she remembered was the sweet taste of air as her Servant finally released its grasp on her throat at the sight of Ruby and her Servant. _

She had woken up in Dia’s room, all of her memories hazy. That was when Dia had made her swear to her to  _ never _ call upon her Servant unless she got her permission beforehand.

“Berserker,” Hanamaru called out. No response. She walked closer, still wary. “Berserker,” she said again. Hanamaru got close enough to prod her Servant with a single finger. “Berserker, I need you.”

A single feline eye lazily opened, blinking several times for training itself on Hanamaru. She shuddered, but steeled herself, reminding herself that she had a job to do.

“Berserker, it’s time you got out of this basement. We have something we need to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prana, mana: I don't know and I don't really care. Terminology doesn't translate well from Japanese to English.


	18. Chapter 17: Day 3—The Illusion of Everyday Normalcy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this chapter has taken so long to finish. I try to post once a month at the very least but even that has been tough lately. However, I know I hate it when a story I'm following takes forever to update so I don't want to subject you guys to that sort of thing. I really do appreciate all of you for reading my humble little story and want to do my part in this author-reader relationship. With that all said, please enjoy this latest chapter.

Chika had to remind herself that her life was different now. It did not seem that way when she took her first step into Uranohoshi since the day before. Had she really only been gone for a day? Chika felt as if she had not walked the school’s familiar halls in a lifetime.

It was all a jumbled mess in her head. What had she done to deserve being dragged into this situation? She put a palm to her forehead and groaned.

“You alright, Chika?” You asked worriedly. She had not moved from Chika’s side since they left Kanan’s place that morning. It was not as if Chika hated her clinginess, but it was certainly strange. It was not unusual for You and her to walk to school together, but having You all but hang off of her arm like this? It was a first.

“Don’t you have practice this morning?” Chika asked.

You turned to look at her, face expressionless. “Do you not like me walking with you, Chika? Would you prefer to be alone with Riko?” Her voice was in a cold monotone.

Chika nervously raised her hands up to her chest in surrender. “N-no, not at all…”

A huge grin spread across You’s face. “Good!” She waved behind them. “Riko, you have to catch up or we’ll leave you in the dust!”

Riko nodded, still following from a few paces back. Chika looked back at her with a worried expression. She had not said a word the entire trip to school and had stayed a fair distance behind them the whole time. “What’s wrong, Riko?”

No response. Now Chika was _really_ worried. “Riko, if something’s wrong, you can tell us.” She gestured between her and You. “We’re all friends here.”

Riko just nodded again. Chika decided not to push her.

As they approached the main gate of the school, Chika noticed that there was a crowd blocking the way. A bombardment of chatter assaulted her as they moved forward.

“Hey, she’s the new girl?” someone asked.

“New _chairwoman_ ,” someone else corrected.

“Woah, blonde! Is she foreign?” another called out excitedly.

Chika tapped a girl on the shoulder. “What’s going on?”

The girl pointed at a golden head of hair bobbing in and out of sight in the crowd. “The new chairwoman is greeting all of us.” She sighed wistfully, putting a hand to her heart. “She’s so dreamy.”

 _A dreamy foreign girl? This new chairwoman… Who is she?_ “Excuse me, coming through!” I exclaimed as I grabbed You’s hand and pushed through the crowd.

“Wait, Chika, where are we going?!” You yelped.

I did not reply and just continued to drag her along with me.

“Chika, wait up, please, my hand is slipping!”

Chika felt You’s grasp loosening, her fingers sliding away from mine. Finally, their hands parted completely and Chika was completely consumed by the horde of fangirls.

She felt as if she was suffocating. _Too many people! Way too many people!_

Suddenly, she was violently spat out of the crowd, landing ungraciously on her butt. She hissed as she rubbed her tailbone, trying to ease the ache from the impact.

“Oh, who’s this?” an accented voice above her asked.

Chika looked up into mischievous yellow eyes. Blonde hair flowed down the side of her face like a cascade of gold. She gave off an aura that Chika could only describe as “rich.”

 _This must be the new chairwoman everyone was talking about!_ she realized as she looked her up and down. _But wait… why is she wearing the student uniform?_

The woman ( _no, she’s definitely just a girl,_ Chika corrected) extended a gloved hand downward.

“Thanks,” Chika said, taking the hand gratefully and pulling herself up.

“ _No problem!_ Anything to help a fellow student!”

 _What language is that first part in?_ Chika decided to ignore that: the girl had said something far stranger that had to be addressed first.

“Did you just say ‘fellow student’?”

“Yes, I did. I am a fellow student, after all, see?” She waved her teal tie in front of Chika’s face.

 _That color means she’s a third year… She’s the same age as Kanan._ Chika briefly tried to picture Kanan as the school chairwoman before shaking her head. _Nope, not possible. Who is this girl and how did she become our school chairwoman?_

The girl’s voice pulled Chika out of her thoughts. “Are you going to introduce yourself?”

“Oh, right!” Chika said as she brushed herself off. She remembered that the girl had asked for her name earlier. She rubbed the back of her head and replied, “Chika. My name is Chika Takami. I’m a second year.”

“My, my, what a good name! Indeed, it is positively _shiny_!” The girl grabbed Chika’s hand again and shook it vigorously. “I am Mari Ohara, third year and the new Uranohoshi Girls’ chairwoman!”

* * *

 

You was used to swimming in open water. She loved swimming, rain or shine, but that love sometimes caught her in the sea in the worst possible times. She could work through it though: You Watanabe had never met a wave she could not escape from.

Well, that is, until she encountered the “wave” of people that swallowed her up whole and refused to let her go.

For the first time in her life, You felt like she was drowning. She flailed her arms helplessly, feeling herself getting beaten down the more effort she put in. Just before panic overwhelmed her, she felt a soft hand grab her own.

“Are you alright?!” asked a panic-stricken Riko. You blinked. “Stay with me!” Riko yelled, slapping You’s face.

“Ow, ow, I’m fine! Riko, stop!” You shielded herself from Riko’s assault. “Riko, calm down, I’m fine!”

Riko let her arms go limp and sat down. She turned her face away from You and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“You don’t like me, do you?”

You sighed. _What do I say?_

 _Why not tell her the truth?_ Lancer’s voice asked.

You took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Riko,” she started, choosing her words carefully, “I don’t hate you.”

Riko finally turned to look You in the face. “Really?” she asked, looking hopeful.

“Really. I don’t hate you Riko, I’m jealous of you.”

“Why?” Riko asked, looking confused again.

“Since I’ve met Chika, I’ve…” You paused. _She I continue?_ she thought, imploring Lancer for her opinion.

Silence. No response.

“I’ve… been in love with her.” You pushed forward. “And yet, she’s never seen me as anything but her friend. Then you come along and she’s all over you. I just wish… I just wish that she looked at me the same way she looks at you.”

Riko stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. Before she could spout off yet another worthless apology, You cut her off. “But I don’t hate you.”

A small smile crossed Riko’s face. “Friends?” she said, tentatively reaching out a hand.

“Friends,” You confirmed, taking the hand and giving it a good shake.

 _You should’ve told her the whole truth,_ Lancer reprimanded. _Why go so far just to lie at the end?_

* * *

 

Archer had been scouting the school since the morning. She was not sure about what she was expecting to find but she knew that she would find something.

 _"The Archer class is good at scouting, right?"_ Assassin had said. The petite Servant had set herself up as the leader of their group and no one had taken the time to object. " _Go on ahead of us and make sure it’s safe for our Masters to go to school."_

_"The Assassin class is good at scouting too. Are you planning to help me?"_

_"Who, me? Are you kidding?"_

Archer moved through the hallways in her spirit form, taking careful note of every nook and cranny of the school. She did not see anything out of the ordinary until she came across the slightly ajar door of the first years’ storage closet.

 _This is where Lancer was summoned, right?_ she thought as she noticed the mess of blood and mercury on the floor. A realization hit her. _Wait, why was there a summoning circle here in the first place?_

“Assassin, should we clean this up?” an unfamiliar voice asked casually. Archer willed herself to disappear, holding her breath and trying her best to not be noticed.

“Master, stop,” a stern voice, one that was decidedly not Assassin’s, said urgently. A pause, and then Archer saw glints of silver fly into the storage closet. Dozens of scalpels impaled themselves in the walls of the storage closet. As she was in her spirit form, Archer felt no pain, but there was still a small rush of fear that ran down her spine. Human instincts die hard.

“Master, there’s a Servant in there. Let’s leave it for now.”

“Wait, a Servant?! As in, someone like you?!” the voice of the Master said, now sounding nervous and fearful. “Are we in a lot of trouble then?”

“Fear not. As long as I am by your side, no Servant will get close to you.”

“Alright,” the Master said. “I trust you, Assassin.” The sound of footsteps faded, alerting Archer that she was once again alone.

_Another Master with another Assassin who uses the same techniques as the Assassin we know? What is going on?_

* * *

 

 _She’s a Master, huh?_ Mari had thought when she saw the Command Spells on the back of the girl’s hand. She had pretended not to see the red sigils and asked, acting perfectly natural, “Are you going to introduce yourself?”

Now Mari sat in her office, pondering what it could all mean.

_Caster, how many Servants are present in the area surrounding the school again?_

_I sense six in total, including myself._

_It could be seven,_  Mari pointed out. _Assassin is most likely hiding._

Something struck Mari as odd. _Could you identify which ones they are based on how much mana they’re consuming?_

 _You know that’s not how it works,_ Caster sighed. She started listing them off anyway. _It feels like Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, me, and…_

_And?_

_And… something else. It’s… weird._

_What do you mean? Could it be Berserker?_

_No, this isn’t Berserker, that I’m sure of. This thing, it doesn’t even feel like a Servant, if I’m being honest._

That statement sent chills down Mari’s spine. _Maybe… But that would mean…_

She steeled herself. Even with this one abnormality, there were still another five confirmed Servants on campus, possibly even six. She had one goal, one thing to accomplish in this Holy Grail War, and she would not, could not fail.

_Everyone… I want to protect everyone._


	19. Chapter 18: Day 3—Impending Disaster

Kanan had not planned on going to school that day. After all, she had been a truant for quite a while now and there was no reason for that to change anytime soon. At least, that was what had she thought until she remembered that both Dia and Mari were  _definitely_  going to be there.

 _I’m not too late, am I?!_  she thought. How could she have become so careless and complacent?! She had promised to keep them safe and yet she had let them enter the lion’s den the very next day.

Kanan grabbed the railing of a stairway and pushed off of it, using her weight to turn sharply without having to slow down. She did not have the luxury to enjoy the wind rushing past her ears and beat of her feet pounding on the ground. Normally, running like this would make her feel alive, but her mind was so preoccupied with fear and worry that every other thought was drowned out in the sound of mental panic alarms going off.

Kanan knew that Chika, You, and Riko had brought their Servants to school. Really, she had no reason to believe that they would be in any danger. Their Servants were there to protect them.

Still, she could not help but be worried. While the Servants were fully prepared for the Holy Grail War, Kanan feared that their Masters were not. Just days before her underclassmen had been normal schoolgirls, going about their carefree lives without the slightest inclination to believe that magic was real. They were not like her, dealing with the responsibilities of being a magus since she was born. She could not expect them to fully grasp the gravity of their situation. Even the slightest misstep would open them up to an attack.

Kanan was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she did not notice the figure standing in directly in her path. As such, she put no effort into avoiding her, which led to her getting a faceful of something soft and springy.

“Oh?” an unfamiliar voice mused sultrily.

Kanan flew backward, partly from her own strength and partly from being pulled back, landing uncomfortably on her spine, shoving the breath out of her lungs for a brief second.

“Back off, Caster,” Kanan heard Assassin growl.

Kanan pulled herself up in a sitting position. Before her, Assassin stood, crouched low and ready, a scalpel between each finger. Both of her arms were spread out as wide as her tiny frame could manage. Kanan realized that this stance was all in an effort to make sure nothing could touch her.

 _Assassin might act aloof, but she really does care about me, doesn’t she?_  The thought was surprisingly heartwarming. Kanan did not realize how much she liked the idea of somebody caring for her.

 _No,_  her cynical inner voice amended,  _not me, but my safety. My safety as an asset of_ her’s _, her key to winning the Holy Grail War._

 _That’s right._  The two were partners, nothing more; Kanan was a fool to expect Assassin to truly care about anyone but herself. Keeping Kanan alive was not something that was personally important to her, it just happened to align with her goals. Kanan was not a friend, she was a means to an end. Kanan mentally slapped herself: she had almost committed the cardinal sin of a Master and believed that she and her Servant were friends.

Humans were selfish creatures, after all, and Servants were the epitome of humanity.

The sound of slow clapping brought Kanan back into reality.

“Caster, back off. Assassin, you can lower your guard. I just want to have a talk with your Master.”

That voice, the voice that Kanan had longed to hear again for years now. The voice that, with every word, filled her heart with more and more dread.

Out of the shadows stepped Mari Ohara, looking as smug as ever. She squatted down in front of Kanan and offered a hand. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Kanan? Up for a little chat?”

* * *

 

When the bell rang to signal break time, Yoshiko made a beeline from her desk to Hanamaru’s. She grabbed the reading girl’s arm and dragged her along, running through the halls.

“Yoshiko?! What are you doing? Where are we going?”

“No time to explain, you need to get out of here!”

Yoshiko was suddenly forced to stop in her tracks. She turned around to see Hanamaru resisting her, sinking her heels into the ground. Yoshiko was surprised at how much strength the small girl could muster up from her petite frame.  _Maybe it comes from all the bread she always eats…_

“Tell me what’s going on!” Hanamaru demanded.

Yoshiko tugged harder. “Later! Right now, we need to leave!”

“I refuse to go anywhere until you tell me what’s going on, zura!”

Yoshiko did not want a shouting match to continue in the hallways. She glanced around, noticing people whispering.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But let’s go somewhere more private, okay?” Yoshiko relented.

Hanamaru nodded and freed her arm from Yoshiko’s grip, following along silently without any more resistance.

Yoshiko threw open the door to the roof, quickly scanning.  _Good, nobody’s here._  She turned to look at Hanamaru. “Shut the door behind you.”

The two of them settled themselves at the edge of the roof, resting their arms on the railing. Yoshiko looked down, little clusters of white strewn across the schoolyard. Her classmates, socializing during the break, blissfully unaware of the danger they were all in.

She could not save them all, she knew that already, but maybe she could save at least one…

Yoshiko turned her head. “Hanamaru, we’re in danger.”

Hanamaru did not look up to meet Yoshiko’s eyes, eyes still focused on the ground below. “Yoshiko, what’s this all about?” She sounded calm, far too calm.

“Zuramaru, promise me you won’t freak out. I need to tell you something. It’s going to sound crazy but you have to listen, okay?”

Another nod, this one dismissive, as if Hanamaru was not really paying attention.

“Zuramaru, magic is real.”

“Yeah, Yoshiko, you’ve told me before. You’re the fallen angel Yohan—”

“No, not that!” Yoshiko interrupted angrily. “This is serious!” She shoved the back of her right hand into Hanamaru’s field of vision, putting her Command Spells on full display. “It’s real!  _This_  is real!”

That got Hanamaru’s attention. She turned to face Yoshiko, eyes wide. “Yoshiko, what—”

“I summoned something, Hanamaru! I found a book in my attic and inside there were these words and I read them and then I—”

Hanamaru placed her hands on Yoshiko’s shoulders, eyes covered by her bangs. “Please tell me it isn’t true, Yoshiko. Say it isn’t so, zura.”

“What?” Yoshiko was taken aback. This had not been the reaction that she had been expecting. She had expected Hanamaru to laugh, to say that her delusions made her feel nostalgic, anything. Anything but this.

Hanamaru looked up, showing Yoshiko the fear in her eyes, the tears at each corner. “Please, you haven’t summoned one yet, have you?! You can’t, Yoshiko! Back out while you still can!”

The puzzle pieces clicked in Yoshiko’s mind. She slowly shifted her gaze from Hanamaru’s quivering form to a more specific detail, one that Yoshiko had not really thought about until now: her tightly bandaged right hand.

The right hand. Yoshiko thought back to the hand she had just shown Hanamaru: her right.

 _It can’t be…_  “Hanamaru, are you—”

A gust of wind blew across the roof. Yoshiko felt the pressure of Hanamaru’s hands leave her shoulders. She heard a small yelp.

There, right before her, stood Assassin. She was holding Hanamaru up, left arm locked around her neck, right hand holding a scalpel to the girl’s throat. The shorter girl’s hands gripped Assassin’s left forearm, legs kicking the air uselessly.

“Assassin, what do you think you’re doing?!”

Assassin rolled her eyes, purples orbs gravitating toward the heavens. “Surely you’ve realized by now? This girl is a Master.”

She heard the words leave Assassin’s mouth, vocalizing the thoughts that she had just been having, making them real, confirming the fears she had tried so hard to ignore.

“But—”

“No ‘buts,’ Master. I’ve told you, this isn’t a game. One way or another, one of you will die at the end of this. I don’t care whether or not you take this seriously, but as your Servant, I will do everything in my power to make sure that it’s not you.” Assassin pressed her scalpel a little closer to Hanamaru’s skin. A bead of crimson bloomed from her milky-white skin. “That means killing every other Master we make contact with, as is my class’s specialty.”

Yoshiko wracked her mind for a counterargument. Assassin was right: this was not a game. That had been proven this morning: Yoshiko had never actually considered the possibility of running into another Servant. She realized the actual magnitude of what she had gotten herself into upon learning that someone with murderous intent was so close by. This “Holy Grail War” thing was no joke.

But Hanamaru? Yoshiko looked back at her childhood friend. They had not been together for long, only being friends with each other back in kindergarten before reuniting in high school, but Yoshiko could not deny that she cared for the girl. She had always been alone, playing by herself on the sidelines. She never complained, but a small part of Yoshiko pitied her anyway.

Could she really kill her childhood friend?

Could she really kill her only friend?

Could she even kill anyone?

“Assassin, please, put her down,” Yoshiko ordered. She tried to sound authoritative, but her voice cracked midway and it wavered the entire time.

Assassin shook her head. She pushed her scalpel ever closer to Hanamaru’s throat in an attempt to look cold and merciless, but there was another emotion in her eyes: pity.

“Master, you know I can’t do that. This girl, she is our enemy. She’ll kill you when she has the chance.”

Yoshiko raised her right arm, holding her fist by her face. “Assassin, let go of her. Please,” she pleaded.

Assassin dropped Hanamaru to the floor, who rolled away as soon as she hit the ground. “Alright, fine. I won’t have you blowing a Command Spell on something so trivial.” Assassin gestured toward Hanamaru. “What should we do—”

Assassin was cut off by a knife impaling itself through her hand.

Yoshiko and her Servant both turned to look at Hanamaru. She was crouched down low, breathing heavily, one arm in front of her in a defensive stance while the other one was stuck up in the air behind her, ready to strike. Her eyes were narrowed, like a cornered animal's. Between each of her fingers was a small knife identical to the one that was sticking through Assassin’s hand, their straight silver blades glistening in the afternoon sun. She slowly wiped the blood away from her neck with the back of her hand.

Assassin laughed, seemingly unperturbed by the blade stuck through the palm of her hand. “See, Master? Your little friend here would’ve been fine.” With her other hand, Assassin slowly extracted the knife from her hand and tossed it over her shoulder. The knife’s blade evaporated into thin air as it hit the ground, leaving behind only a small red hilt. Assassin peered at Hanamaru more closely, curious eyes meeting cautious ones. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind telling me, what is an Executor of the Church doing as a Master?”

* * *

 

Riko had no idea what she had been expecting when she returned to school, but it most definitely was not  _this_.

“What are you two doing?”

You and Lancer looked up from their hands, looking confused. It was lunchtime and the two of them were knitting in the courtyard, not noticing (or perhaps purposefully ignoring) the many onlookers giving Lancer strange looks. Riko was pretty sure she heard some girls whisper something about Lancer being an “otaku cosplay maid.”

“What does it look like?” the two said in unison, “We’re making outfits.”

 _Okay, that’s a little creepy._  Riko looked down at the sewing needles each of them were holding, the fabric that they were so expertly sewing together. “I can see that, but why exactly…?”

“I thought it might be helpful to arm all of you magi with Mystic Codes,” Lancer replied unhelpfully.

“A Mystic Code is like a weapon for magi,” You quickly elaborated, evidently noticing the lost look on Riko’s face. “Apparently, we can channel mana through them and perform magic!”

“Magecraft,” Lancer corrected, “but yes. It should allow you two to perform a level of magecraft despite your lacking Magic Circuits. With these, even normal humans like you two can be imbued with a level of Mystery. Especially because they are made by me. But more importantly,” Lancer held up the now completed outfit, smiling, “they’re cute!”

“But what use are they?” Riko asked. “We can’t fight Servants even with their help, right?”

“That’s true,” Lancer replied, “which is why they aren’t meant for fighting Servants, but their Masters. Remember, just because any of the Servants could kill you in a heartbeat doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about the other Masters. Unlike you and my Master, the other Masters are very likely to be accomplished magi. In the case that you two run into them, you going to need to have a means of defending yourselves. I’m sure that Assassin and Avenger’s Masters won’t mind the presents either.”

A voice in Riko’s head drew her attention away from her conversation with You and Lancer.  _Master,_  Archer said, sounding urgent,  _I’ve found something._

Lancer straightened her back, suddenly looking serious. “Another Master?”

Riko felt Archer nod mentally (whatever that meant).  _That’s not the biggest part though. This Master, her Servant… I don’t know what to say._

“Stop stalling and spit it out!” Lancer snarled uncharacteristically. Riko realized that she had never seen Lancer actually mad at anyone but Archer.

_This Servant—she fights like Assassin._

Riko felt a chill run down her spine.  _What could that mean? Another Assassin?_

* * *

 

“So what you’re telling me is that Dia is planning to kill me,” Mari confirmed, sounding bored. She yawned into her open right hand, showing off her Command Spells. “What else is new?”

Kanan’s right eye twitched. “Are you seriously not worried at all?”

Mari shrugged. “Why would I be?”

The two had gone up to Mari’s office at her request. Kanan had scanned every corner of the office suspiciously, as if she expected something to pop out and kill her at any moment. Mari laughed and assured her that there were no booby traps. Now the two of them were sitting face to face, Kanan fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat like a child being forced to see the principal.

 _I mean, in a way, that_ is _what’s happening here,_  Mari had thought, bemused.

Seeing Kanan here, sitting before her… It made her… sad, in a way. She was glad to see her old friend after so long, but the two of them sitting on opposite sides of the table, it only served to reinforce the fact that their old relationship was completely gone.

Kanan stood up, slamming her hands onto the desk in fury. “You’re going to die, Mari! Don’t you understand?”

“So?” Mari drawled lazily.

Kanan raised her hand up, preparing to slap Mari in the face. Her wrist was caught by Caster. “I don’t particularly condone violence, Master of Assassin.”

Assassin glared at Caster but she made no move to stop her, keeping her arms firmly crossed. Kanan took a deep breath and nodded. Caster let go of her wrist, allowing Kanan to slink back down into her seat. “Please,” Kanan said, voice now flat and measured in an attempt to sound calm, “watch out for yourself.”

“Kanan, do you know why I had Caster put the whole school under a Bounded Field?”

That took Kanan aback. “It’s all to feed her, right?”

“Goodness, no!” Caster exclaimed, putting a hand to her chest, looking offended. “I’m not that mana-hungry!”

“Then why did you put it up?!” Kanan demanded.

Mari smiled. Here it was: her true goal. “Kanan, how would you like to join me in ending this Holy Grail War once and for all?”

* * *

 

“What’s wrong?” Chika asked Avenger as the two of them walked home after class. Avenger had insisted on manifesting physically, even going so far as to wear the Uranohoshi uniform so as to not stand out. Where she had gotten the uniform Chika had not bothered to ask.

Avenger looked on edge. “You don’t feel it in the air?”

Chika shook her head. “Nope, nothing. Is there something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. Just a feeling,” Avenger assured her.

Chika narrowed her eyes in suspicion but let it go. Avenger was going to protect her. If she said it was nothing, then it was nothing.

“Do you know where Riko and You are?” Chika asked, changing the subject.

Avenger paused for a bit, then said, “They’re still at school. I can feel Archer and Lancer’s presences there. Knowing those two, they won’t leave their Masters unattended for long. I assume that they will catch up with us shortly.”

“Avenger, nobody will die, right?”

Avenger turned to face Chika. “What brought this on?”

“I just don’t think I could stand it.”

Avenger put a hand on Chika’s shoulder, looking sympathetic. “Chika, I promise, I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.” She then removed her hand and turned back around. “Let’s get back home then, shall we? I bet you’re tired from a long day of studying.”

Chika just stood there, dazed. For a brief second, when Avenger’s hand made contact with her, she could have sworn that the ground before her had been covered in snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, hasn't it? This update is going through a little later than I planned, but that is because it is way longer than most other updates. We are nearing the end of the first arc and I wanted to get all of the setup out of the way. The pace will be picking up considerably from here on out. Thank you to everyone who stuck it out for this long because we're finally going to be getting to the good stuff. As usual, I hope you enjoyed. Any feedback is appreciated.


	20. Chapter 19: Day 3—The Holy Grail War (Pt. 1)

Yoshiko ran and ran, going as fast and as far as her unathletic gamer girl legs could carry her. She did not know what to do, so she just ran. After all, what  _ could _ she do? She had just found out that her best friend—if she was being honest with herself, her  _ only _ friend—was also a Master in the Holy Grail War.

She had expected, almost known for certain, that there would be at least one other Master at her school. After all, Uchiura was not a large town. But Hanamaru? Sweet, meek little Hanamaru? Why did she, of all people, have to be one of the seven chosen?

Yoshiko did not have enough courage to stick around to hear what Assassin and Hanamaru had to say to each other. She bolted for the door, rushing down the stairs and through the hallways. She ignored the bell signalling the start of class, ignored the people calling out her name, ignored the teachers scolding her for running in the halls. She ignored it all, as if by pretending that nothing existed she could force herself to forget that Hanamaru was a Master.

It was all a dream, right? All just a bad dream? It had to be. This Holy Grail War thing… it only served as Assassin’s means to scare her. It was not like it had any  _ real _ repercussions, right?

_ “The Holy Grail War is no mere game, Master. If you treat it as such, I will have no choice but to kill you as a means of bringing you salvation.” _

Yoshiko had treated those words as nothing but a joke and, as such, had jokingly agreed to Assassin’s terms. After all, she was untouchable. She was the chosen one. She was a  _ magus _ , able to perform magic!

But now, upon the realization that Hanamaru was not only also a magus of some sort (an Executor, Assassin had called her?) but also directly entangled in this mess, Assassin’s words began to truly set in.

And, as always, when responsibility arrived, Yoshiko ran.

Running, however, only ever served to get her into more trouble, and this time was no exception. Yoshiko rounded a corner, meaning that she could not check if anyone was coming in the opposite direction. Even when she noticed the hint of red hair, she was going so fast that she could not stop or change direction in time. The best she could do was scream, “Watch out!” in warning and hope for the best.

* * *

 

You felt a shiver run down her spine.

“What’s wrong?” Lancer asked, noticing her Master’s discomfort.

“I… I don’t know,” You admitted. “It just feels a bit… chilly, I guess? Wait, does that mean something?”

Lancer stiffened, her figure tense. She stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes, scanning the immediate area around them. “Maybe, maybe not. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

The nervous gestures that Lancer was making with her fingers did nothing to reassure You.

_ I need to talk about something to get my mind off of this. _ You’s thoughts wandered to the outfits that were neatly folded in her school bag. “So, you like to design clothes, Lancer?”

Lancer took one last look around before letting herself relax. Her eyes seemed to soften at the mention of clothes. “Yes, yes I did,” she whispered, her words almost inaudible, and then, even quieter still, she said, “At least I think I did.”

“What do you mean? Don’t you remember your life?”

Lancer stared down at her hands silently, closing and opening them slowly, rhythmically. You watched each knuckle tense and relax.  _ She has a knitter’s hands. _

“I remember… a life,” Lancer began, her tone guarded, like she was choosing her words carefully. “A life. But, was it  _ my _ life? I can’t answer that.

“It’s all a jumbled mess in my head. I can memories, memories of me, but nothing is clear. The more I think, the more it feels like I am grasping at nothing, like sticking my hand into an open void. I can’t recognize a face, I can’t recognize a name; I can’t even recognize whether the me in there is the same as the me right here.” Lancer’s words got faster and faster, her voice getting louder and higher-pitched as she continued. She was talking in a frenzy now. “Nothing feels right and I just have all of these emotions and they’re pouring out and I almost can’t control it but I don’t even know where they’re coming from and sometimes I feel like I can see something but it ends up not being anything and honestlyitjusthurtssomuch…”

You silenced her with a hug. Lancer stopped her rant, seemingly surprised. “Master?” she croaked in confusion.

“Shh,” You cooed, running her hand through Lancer’s long ashen hair. Lancer was not much taller than You and did not appear to be much older either.  _ She died like this, at around my age, and she has all of these feelings that she is holding back. It must be so painful. _

“Master, do not pity me,” Lancer said, her voice quivering. “I’m… I’m just a tool, something for you to use and then throw away. All I am here for is to grant you your wish.”

“Lancer, you aren’t just a tool. You’re strong, and you’re being strong for me, but you don’t have to be. We’re friends, and friends support one another.”

Lancer chuckled into You’s hair. “Masters and Servants can never be friends.”

“But we can try, right?”

“Is that an order?”

You smiled. If Lancer could muster up a playful response like that, then she was sure to almost be calm again. You brought her hand up to Lancer’s head, intending to do one last pat before separating from her.

At least, that is what she tried to do. You’s body jerked uncontrollably. She felt a shock, almost electric, run down her back again. It was like every cell in her body was telling her to run.

“Something is coming,” Lancer said, tone serious, pushing You away. “Something is definitely coming.”

* * *

 

An inhuman screech shredded its way through the night air. Lancer drew her spear from the empty space above her and twirled it around. “Something is most definitely coming.”

Kanan had sent Assassin off to do whatever she needed to do. She did not particularly care about what the Servant went off to do, just that she left. Kanan needed some time to think alone.

Kanan sat on the beach, looking out upon the glistening ocean reflecting the sunset, and thought. Her feet idly kicked back and forth in the water, sending little ripples across the bay, eventually fading into the waters beyond.

_ So  _ that _ was Mari’s plan this whole time? Is she insane? _ Kanan could not believe what she had heard. But that  _ would _ explain everything, and it was a plan that sounded just crazy enough for Mari to try to pull it off .

Kanan had always wondered why Mari had chosen to summon Caster. Out of all the Servants that Mari could have summoned, summoning Caster was probably the most ill-suited and seemingly illogical choice. Mari had always been the most naturally talented magus out of their little group of three, born with a penchant for jewel magecraft and the vast wealth required to sustain it. Kanan ruefully remembered when she had proudly announced to her two best friends that her Element was Water, only for a young Mari to look back in confusion and ask why it was not all five like her’s. Mari had top-quality Magic Circuits as well, another blessing of her bloodline. With all of her natural-born gifts, she could have easily steamrolled the rest of the War’s participants with a Saber or even a Berserker.

But she had not done that. She, a talented magus, had summoned Caster. Caster, the class that was usually summoned by the weakest of Masters in order to patch up their own ineptitude at magecraft. Caster, the weakest of the seven. Caster, the Servant that most traditional magi feared the most to summon because doing so would break the unspoken rule that no magus should ever try to subjugate one more skilled at magecraft than themselves. If Mari wanted to win the War, she was definitely not doing herself any favors by summoning a Caster. In fact, it she would actually be actively hindering her chances of victory by doing so.

But Mari was not trying to win the War, not in the way that it was meant to be won anyway.

_ Force a truce? _ Kanan thought, Mari’s words bouncing around in her head.  _ Dismantle the Grail? End this ritual once and for all? _

Mari’s plan seemed like nothing but a fool’s dream. Permanently bringing an end to the Holy Grail War? Impossible. The formula was so deeply entrenched in the the land of Uchiura that it would be impossible to extract the Grail without severely, possibly even permanently damaging the leylines running beneath the land. Even if it  _ were _ possible, the amount of time and skill required would make the process all but plausible.

No, it was just a silly dream, like every other simple, naive plan that Mari had concocted in the past. Who was she kidding? This would never work.

But something deep inside Kanan wanted to believe: to believe in peace, in a happy ending for everyone.

_ No use sitting here and moping, _ Kanan decided. She stood up, brushing wet sand off of the back of her skirt. She picked up her pair of shoes lying beside her and began to walk barefoot off of the beach. It was about time to head home. She tried to push the thoughts of the Holy Grail War into the back of her mind, if even for a moment.  _ I’m pretty hungry. Maybe You or Assassin will have something whipped up when I get back? I’m really craving some curry… _

The serene silence of the sunset scene was broken by a sound. A cry… no, a roar. It came again, this time louder. Kanan strained her ears, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Then, a third time, even louder still, seeming to shake the air itself.

* * *

 

“Are you alright?” Riko asked. She extended a hand toward the dark-haired girl that had bumped into her. She had been startled, sure, but the collision between them had not hurt. In fact, Riko had not budged in the slightest, remaining on her feet while the girl had bounced back and landed straight on her butt.

_ This girl is as light as a feather, _ Riko mused.  _ I hardly even felt anything. _

The girl reached out, about to gratefully accept Riko’s help, when she suddenly pulled her hand back.

“G-get back!” she shrieked.

Riko was backed up, surprised at the girl’s outburst. What had triggered it? Riko looked down, tracing the panicked girl’s gaze to her extended right hand.

Her right hand! Riko remembered the marks on the back of her right hand. She was so stupid! How could she have forgotten? But, if this girl was so scared of her right hand, that could only mean….

“Are you a Master?” Riko asked. This only caused the girl’s eyes to grow wider. She raised her right hand up, flashing her own set of Command Spells. Her mouth began to move, quivering all the while.

“Wait! I’m not going to hurt you!” Riko had to calm her down. Who knew what could happen if this girl summoned her Servant into the middle of the hallway? “I just want to talk!”

The girl stopped her chant, lowering her right hand.  _ It looks like she has no will to fight, _ Riko realized.

“Are you alright—” Riko began, before being surprised by the girl jumping up, wrapping her arms around Riko’s neck. She began to cry.

Riko patted the back of the girl’s head awkwardly. What was she supposed to do in a situation like this?

“Please….” the girl mumbled, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, “Please help me. I’ve got nobody else to turn to.”

* * *

 

“Master, get back!”

Chika did not need to be told twice. She dashed behind Avenger, who know stood ready, sword gripped tightly between her hands. Her eyes were narrowed, dashing back and forth, scanning for any signs of motion.

Their surroundings were eerily peaceful. Nothing was moving. Only the sounds of nature could be heard. A cold wind sent leaves scattering across the road. The entire world was cloaked in a thin veil of orange, the streetlamps beginning to flicker on as the light of the sun grew ever more sparse. It was a perfectly normal, idyllic countryside sunset.

Chika had been born and raised in Uchiura. She knew that those picture-perfect postcards of her sleepy little rural town did not reflect reality. It was a small town, but there was always something happening, some sort of noise, some sort of activity. It was never  _ silent _ .

“We need to head somewhere where there will be as little collateral damage as possible,” Avenger muttered to herself. “An empty lot? No, there are too few of those. Up the mountain? No: too far away, too cluttered, and too little visibility. To the pier then.” She grabbed Chika’s hand, dragging her along. “We have to get out of here.”

“Avenger…”  
“I’ll explain when we get there!”

“Avenger…”  
“I promise, Master, I’ll explain, but we need to go!”

“Avenger!”  
“What?!” Avenger finally snapped back. Chika pointed toward some bushes, her finger not quite straight. She was shivering, she realized. Avenger turned, annoyed.

Staring back at them were two glowing yellow orbs. The bushes rustled, a low snarl emanating from whatever was in the thicket.

“A cat?” Chika asked hopefully, but even she was unconvinced.

“A Servant,” Avenger said, confirming her worst fear.

* * *

 

“Almost there!” Lancer called out. “How are you holding up, Master?”

“Fine!” You responded, not even slightly out of breath. Really, the Mystic Code that Lancer had made for her was excellent. With just the slightest bit of concentration, she could increase her speed and stamina by tenfold. It was such a rush, stimulating every brain cell and muscle in You’s body. She felt like she could do anything.

Now if only she did not look and feel so ridiculous, what with running at breakneck speeds in a such a short light-blue dress. Not exactly the first thing that somebody would think of when imaging battle attire. In fact, it looked more like an outfit for some up-and-coming idol group or something.

_ “Really, I prefer uniforms,” _ You had told Lancer, but she had been shut down immediately.

_ “It is just as important to look cute in battle as it is to be strong!” _

Lancer really could be quite eccentric at times.

Still, You  _ did _ have to agree that the outfit was cute, even if it was not her usual style. It was just pretty embarrassing to run around in such a short skirt.  _ How do those idols do it? Dancing around in something like this…. There is no way that their skirts don’t flip up! _

“There!” Lancer called out.

You looked around and found herself on the pier. She did a quick scan but could not see what she was looking for. “Where’s Chika?!”

“Look up!” Lancer pointed. “What are those two doing?!”

* * *

 

Chika wrapped her arms around Avenger’s neck for dear life.

_ Get to the water, she said. It’ll be safer, she said. Cats don’t like water, she said. _

Well, evidently, this Servant was a cat only in appearance.

Avenger’s foot hit the water again. The she kicked down on the surface, making the water under her feet seemingly solidify for just a second to allow her to bounce back up into the air. And bounce back up into the air she did. The amount of force generated by each kick sent the two of them flying, almost literally.

The opposing Servant seemed to have no such ability. Unfortunately, such a limitation did not keep it on the ground. It jumped across the water, always seeming to land on a rock or a piece of debris that would allow it a bit of airtime.

The two Servants clashed in the air, dancing an elaborate tango of claws and steel, leaping past each other to exchange blows. Avenger’s superior range allowed her sword to get in a few nicks into the opposing Servant’s hide while evading damage, but the little scrapes seemed to hardly affect the Servant at all.

_ How much longer can we keep this up? _ Chika wondered. Avenger was a Servant: her abilities were indeed superhuman, but she was not invincible. Chika could tell she was holding herself back so she would not draw so much mana, but she could not keep this up forever. Chika could hear Avenger’s breathing get slightly more ragged with each leap, a barely audible pant following every breath.

“Avenger, we should retreat!” Chika called out. Despite her mouth being right next to Avenger’s ear, she was worried that the words would get lost in the wind.

“We can’t!” Avenger only spoke in single syllables, obviously struggling to force out speech. She was being pushed to her limits.

_ Should I use a Command Spell to get the two of us out of here? _

“Don’t even think about it!” Avenger yelled, as if she could read Chika’s thoughts. “I’m fine!”

Just as she said that, a shadow descended upon them. Avenger turned, eyes wide, as the huge, hulking form of the enemy Servant came racing down toward them. Chika closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable.

It never came.

The Servant made a startled cry as something long and shiny pierced it in its right thigh, firmly lodging itself into the tense muscles. The object jerked in the air, dragging the Servant backward and down toward the pier. Its impact with the ground kicked up large clouds of dust. A moment of silence permeated the air.

Avenger let herself fall. She landed and perched on a slippery rock. “Took you long enough,” she mumbled under her breath.

* * *

 

You watched in amazement as the spear ripped itself from the Servant’s thigh, flying back into Lancer’s open hand with a grisly tearing noise. She heard a soft thud behind her. “Sorry for the wait,” Lancer said over her shoulder, smirking.

“What’s your take on this?” Avenger asked sharply, ignoring Lancer’s attempt at playful banter.

Lancer sighed. “Can’t you act like you’re a little happy to see me?” she mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Lancer denied, waving her hands in front of her, nearly poking out Avenger and You’s eyes with the business end of her spear. She hurriedly apologized to the two.

“You think it’s dead?” Lancer said, pointing at the slumped form of the enemy Servant, clearly desperately trying to find a way to change the topic.

“Not a chance,” Avenger said. “This thing barely even took damage from my sword. At least that has a level of Mystery to it. Hitting the ground will barely faze it. If anything, it’s the injury from your spear that will keep it down for the moment.”

Just as Avenger predicted, the catlike Servant began to stir. It tried to pick itself up, then fell flat onto the ground again, whimpering.

“We have to get out of here while we still have the chance.” Avenger pointed toward the path that Lancer and You had followed to get to the pier, in the direction of Kanan’s house. “We have no chance against this thing alone. We need backup.”

Lancer nods in agreement. “My Noble Phantasm doesn’t exactly do a lot of damage and, as you haven’t used it, I’ll assume yours doesn’t either. That means that we’re going to need Archer.”

“Have you seen Archer or her Master?”

“Riko was still at school when we left,” You piped up. Avenger turned to look at her,  scanning her from top to bottom, causing her to blush a bit.

“Mystic Code?”

“Y-yeah!” You exclaimed, glad that Avenger understood that she was not an exhibitionist. “We’ve got one for you too, Chika!” she said, pulling out an orange outfit that was nearly identical to her own.

Chika was clinging tightly to Avenger’s neck, looking shellshocked. “Chika! Hey, Chika! Yoohoo!” You cooed, waving the outfit in front of Chika’s face.

“Huhwha?” Chika groaned, snapping out of her trance. She sounded groggy, like she had just woken up. “Oh, You!” she said excitedly, recovering almost instantly. “Where have you been all day?”

You looked at her best friend with concern. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m completely fine!” Chika exclaimed, her focus shifting rapidly from side to side, crazed. “It’s not like we were just attacked by a giant cat thing or anything! I’m fine,  _ totally _ fine!”

“She’s not fine,” Avenger said.

“Thanks for stating the obvious,” You grumbled. She walked over and gingerly pulled Chika off of Avenger’s back. “You’ll be fine,” she whispered, running her fingers through Chika’s orange locks in an effort to calm her down.  _ Didn’t I just do something like this a little while ago? _

“We won’t be fine!” Chika snapped, slapping You’s hand away. “It’s only been two days and a monster has appeared! What’s going to happen next?! Everyone I know—everyone I love, is in danger! You, Mito, Shima, Mom, Dad: everyone could die at any moment!”

You stayed quiet, unsure of what to say to comfort her friend. As it turned out, she did not have to say anything. Avenger turned around and slapped her Master hard across the face.

“Hey!” You protested, but Lancer tapped her on the shoulder and shook her head.

“I told you,” Avenger began, deathly calm, “that the Holy Grail War is no game. I asked if you wanted to bear the burdens of a Master, and you agreed. I gave you an out and you didn’t take it. You can’t begin losing your nerve now that we’re in our first real fight.”

“But—!”

“Listen to me!” Avenger yelled. “You wanted to stay a Master to protect everyone, right? To do that we have to fight!” Avenger lowered her gaze and continued, her tone more hushed. “Sometimes, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything to protect the ones you love.”

Chika stood there dumbfounded. You could tell that there was a lot of pain and trauma in Avenger’s voice.

_ What exactly happened in her life to lead to her becoming like this? _

Lancer cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “I’m glad we’re having this emotionally-charged moment together, I really am, but we have an enemy Servant we need to get rid of.” She gestured toward the enemy Servant, whose wound had almost closed up at this point.

Avenger nodded. “Let’s find Archer and her Master.”

* * *

 

Riko never thought that she would like playing the role of a protective upperclassman, but here she was.

She peaked around the next corner, confirming that the coast was clear. She waved for the girl to follow her and the pair continued on their way to Kanan’s house, both on high alert.

_ “You two look absolutely ridiculous, you know that?” _ Archer said in her head.

_ “Better to be safe than sorry, right?” _

_ “You  _ do  _ know that I’m scouting ahead, right? My senses are better than both of yours combined. If I miss something, then you would definitely miss it too.” _

Riko tried to think of a reasonable protest, but she had none.

_ “Look,” _ Archer continued.  _ “Just walk to Master of Assassin’s house normally. Can’t you see that you’re putting this girl on edge?” _

_ “Alright, fine. You win.” _ Riko turned around, smiling at her shy underclassman. She had declared her name as Yoshiko Tsushima. Riko had wondered if this was the same Yoshiko she had heard all of the rumors about, the one who acted all aloof in class but would sometimes be seen talking about demons and fallen angels in private.

That was beside that point though. If someone was in need, then Riko wanted to help. It was somewhat risky to expose herself so readily to a Master, but the girl had looked so desperate that Riko could not help herself. She could not care less about if this was a trap at this point, she just wanted to help this girl.

“Archer says that she can scout for us,” Riko relayed. “She says that we should just take it easy.”

Yoshiko still looked visibly distressed but nodded anyway.

_ This is so awkward…. _ Riko thought. She looked around, trying to think of anything to talk about.

“...Why are you helping me?”

Riko looked back at Yoshiko. These were the first words she had said to her since they had left school. “What do you mean? You asked me for help, didn’t you?”

Yoshiko nodded. “But I’m your enemy.”

“No you’re not,” Riko tried to assure her.

“Yes I am!” Yoshiko was starting to get angry now, looking up at Riko’s face defiantly. “We’re both Masters!”

“We can be allies.”

Yoshiko shakes her head, tears beginning to stream from her eyes. “You don’t get it, do you? This is a one-winner, winner-takes-all battle royale. We’ll have to fight each other at some point!” Her upper lip quivers. “Only one of us can survive until the end.”

Before Riko could even process what was happening, she found herself walking over to Yoshiko and wrapped her arms around the younger girl’s body, giving her a firm hug.

“W-what are you doing?!” the surprised and flustered girl sputtered out. “You’re being weird!”

“You look like you really need this,” Riko said, not letting go.

Yoshiko turned her blushing face away from Riko’s. “I-I guess this is k-kind of comforting. Just a little bit.”

Riko patted her underclassman on the head. “Everything’s going to be okay. This will all work out. I’ll make sure that nothing happens to you.”

It was at that moment that, thanks to the supreme irony that governs the universe, a missile of red, white, and orange landed in front of the two girls.

“Finally found you,” Avenger said to a stunned Riko. Riko noted that Chika was on Avenger’s back, clad is a somewhat skimpy orange dress. The Servant looked over at the girl who stood wrapped in Riko’s arms, eyes wide open. “Who’s the new one?”

A moment later, Lancer came crashing down next to Avenger, You in her arms like a bride. “Did you find—” she began, but cut herself short when she caught sight of Riko. “I guess you did.”

Archer materialized, looking stern. “What do you two think you’re doing?!” She pointed at Yoshiko. “You’ve nearly scared the poor girl to death!”

Avenger laid a heavy hand on Archer’s shoulder.

“What? What’s happening?” Archer asked, now grasping the seriousness of the atmosphere.

“There’s something we need your help dealing with,” Avenger states in a somber tone.

As if on cue, a shrill feline roar is heard in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since the last update. I apologize, I really do. This chapter really should have been released a long time ago, but student stuff just kept getting in the way. Anyway, I had to split this chapter into two parts because it was getting way too long. I hope that you guys enjoyed it despite the fact that I've been hyping up the debut of the second arc of the story. It's coming, I swear.  
> In other news, I now have a [personal website](https://turtlegeneticsworks.blogspot.com/) where I post original fiction. Please check it out and follow it if you're interested! There isn't much there at the moment, but I'll be working hard to post stuff there.  
> Last but not least, happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it!


	21. Chapter 20: Day 3—The Holy Grail War (Pt. 2)

Dia repeatedly tapped her index finger on her forearm, a scowl furrowed across her brow. A guttural growl emanated from her throat, startling Hanamaru.

“A-are you alright, Dia?” the brown-haired girl asked, unsure as to how she should approach the older girl.

“Yes,” Dia said through gritted teeth. “I’m _perfectly_ fine.” She clenched her fist. “I’m just a bit _curious_ as to how _Berserker_ , hands down the strongest Servant, wasn’t able to take down a _single_ opponent by itself.” With every few words, she ground her teeth.

“She’s trying her best…” Hanamaru muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing!”

 _This is the worst,_ Hanamaru thought. She was at the max range she could be from her Servant, a good two kilometers away. Normally, a Servant as mana-hungry as Berserker would need their Master to be virtually next to them in order to sustain their materialization, but this Berserker was an oddity in every sense of the word.

“Forget it! I’m not waiting here anymore!” Dia exclaimed. “C’mon Saber, we’re moving on with the plan.”

The blonde-haired Servant got up from her kneeling position and nodded, placing her hand on the hilt of her sword. “Of course, Master. If I may ask though, who will be here supporting Master of Berserker if we were to leave?”

Dia shrugged. “Ruby can help her. Rider seems to have an affinity for Berserker anyway.” She turned to look—no, glare—at Hanamaru. “Keep them busy, understand me? We can _not_ have any interruptions.”

Hanamaru nodded.

Dia closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then took off running, enhancing every step with a burst of mana. Before Hanamaru even knew it, she had disappeared into the shadows of the night, Saber following close behind.

Hanamaru slumped against a nearby wall, letting the fatigue wash over her. She finally allowed herself to cough up the blood that she had been so desperately trying to hold back the entire time.

* * *

 

Archer somersaulted through the air and landed on all fours. She had not realized just how strong Berserker was. Sure, she knew that Madness Enhancement made Servants stronger, but fighting three-on-one strong? Really, it was unbelievable.

“Don’t stop moving!”

Archer just barely managed to avoid a swipe from Berserker’s claws thanks to Avenger’s warning. In one swift motion, she conjured a sword and stabbed it through Berserker’s right paw, pinning her to the ground. Archer just managed to notch and fire off one arrow before Berserker ripped the sword out and freed herself.

“I’m not doing any damage!” Archer yelled out. She threw yet another sword at Berserker, but this time the Servant just deflected it with its paw. “I need space!”

A blur of gray appeared in front of her, parrying yet another swipe from Berserker. “Well, if that’s what you need,” Lancer said, jaw clenched, “then I guess I can oblige.” She launched a flurry of jabs in front of her, forcing Berserker back.

Archer wasted no time. She strummed the string of her bow like a harp and, in the blink of an eye, a volley of arrows was lodged in Berserker’s right shoulder. The Servant howled in agony.

“Get back!” Archer warned. Lancer leapt backward, not needing to be told twice.

Sword tips sprang from within the wound, shiny silver spines protruding from the place where the arrows had landed. They eviscerated everything they touched, leaving Berserker’s shoulder a mangled, bloody mess. Berserker curled up, trying to recover.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Avenger came spiraling through the air, her sword slashing at the air around her. She flew right by Berserker’s right side, landing a good few meters behind the Servant. Initially, it seemed like nothing had happened. Then, all at once, blood sprayed out of Berserker’s body. Avenger looked over her shoulder and smirked. “Now’s your chance, Archer!” Her smirk was cut off by her being hit by one of Berserker’s wildly flailing arms. Her body crumpled around the impact, flying until she hit a wall. She slid down and hit the ground with a sickening thump.

“Avenger!” Archer called out. No response.

Archer knew what she needed to do. Avenger had taken that hit to open up this opportunity for her, after all. She did not like it: only a crazy person would reveal their greatest weapon so early into the Holy Grail War. Still, she had almost been forced use it against Lancer; if she had been willing to use it then, she should absolutely be willing to here.

Archer dropped the Projected wooden bow she had been using before. It disintegrated into ash the moment it hit the pavement, blowing away in the wind. She then clenched her left fist for a second before opening it again. She felt the mana concentrating into the palm of her hand: a ball of black energy that stretched into the shape of a bow. A string stretched from both ends, meeting in the middle. Archer pulled it back, testing its tautness. Perfect.

She spread her right palm so it was open, facing the sky. The air grew cold as she sapped it of mana. The magical energy crystalized itself into a single perfect black arrow.

Archer calmly notched the arrow, mind empty, and took aim. She waited for a second, ensuring that everything was perfect, then let go.

“Watashitachi wa Mirai no Hana!”

* * *

 

_ItHuRtSIthUrtsiThuRtsitHurTSithURTsITHurtS…._

_bLUe… BluE… kILl blUe… graygraygraygraygraygraygraygraygray…._

_KILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL…._

_hAvE to DOdge… dOdGE… DodGE…._

* * *

 

Lancer felt it again: the signature effects of Archer’s Noble Phantasm. Her limbs felt heavy. She tried to move but she could not even manage a few twitches before exhausting herself. It felt as if everything had slowed to a crawl, as if time itself were being frozen. Just how much mana could that Noble Phantasm draw in?

No, not just mana: this Noble Phantasm was ripping away pieces of her soul itself, imbuing its arrowhead with the power of the nearby Idol Spirits.

She heard the name. There was something so familiar about its invocation. Something had stirred within her when Archer had first threatened her with it but now, with it being fully channeled and its name fully chanted, the thing roared, begging for freedom.

Her mind could only think one clear thought as the pain of literally dematerializing took over her consciousness: _Umi?_

The arrow flew and time started again. It streaked through the air, seemingly gathering speed rather than losing it. It made its way straight for Berserker’s head. Lancer was no expert marks(wo)man, but even she could see that the arrow would be a direct hit, a perfect headshot.

Only, it was not.

Lancer watched in disbelief as the world seemed to run in reverse. The arrow stopped in midair, then slowly moved back about half a meter, as if Archer were reeling it back in. Something was off. The arrow began to fly again, only to move back and to fly again. It repeated this, over and over, until it finally reached Berserker. Lancer watched in amazement as the Noble Phantasm whizzed by the Servant’s head, not doing anything besides slightly grazing its ear.

_What… what just happened?!_

Everything was back in real time. Berserker stood up shakily, still incredibly wounded, but her injuries were already beginning to close up. Lancer heard a thud and turned to see Archer fall to her knees, eyes white and face pale.

“How…. I didn’t miss…. I couldn’t….”

Lancer looked back at the feline Servant.

 _What exactly_ are _you?!_

* * *

 

_DoDGEd… mE dODgED…._

_hurtshurtshurtshurtshurtsPLEASEHELPHELPMEHEALMEHELP!_

_...Kayo-chin?!_

* * *

 

A bolt of lightning struck the area between Archer and Berserker. The impact created a shockwave, kicking up powerful gusts that tugged at Archer’s hair and clothes.

Archer hardly noticed the intrusion. She was still in total shock. She had missed. She _never_ missed. Something was amiss here. Something was very, very wrong. She couldn’t just _miss_.

“Stop!” called out a voice from the center of the shockwave. “I’m not here to fight!”

Lancer pointed her spear’s tip toward the cautious Berserker. “Are you with her?”

The newcomer simply nodded.

“Then you’re my enemy,” Lancer said coldly, lowering herself into a defensive stance.

 _I should help her. I should raise my bow._ Archer tried to wrap her fingers around her bow, but her fingers were quivering, making the task impossible.

The new Servant sighed. She didn’t seem particularly scared of Lancer. Or, rather,, she seemed more concerned with Berserker’s well-being than her own possible death.

The mysterious Servant lifted up Berserker in a bridal carry. The tortured sounds that Berserker had been making stopped abruptly, as if being in the Servant’s arms calmed her down. The Servant faced Lancer.

“I just want to get my friend out of here in peace. Please, don’t try to interfere.”

Archer’s ears picked up on her odd word choice. _Friend? Not ally or comrade, but friend? What could that mean?_

Lancer chuckled, sweeping her spear’s tip across the ground intimidatingly. “No can do. You _do_ know this is the Holy Grail War, right?”

And with that, she charged.

The resulting impact kicked up so much dust into the air that it was impossible to tell what exactly had happened at first. Lancer leapt back, recalling her spear to her palm. Archer tried to pick up her bow again to no avail. The two of them were thinking the same thing: _If that Servant wasn’t worried in the slightest, then she is clearly confident in her own abilities. The chances of her being dead are next to none._

Indeed, when all of the dust cleared, there she was.

“Please,” she pleaded again. “I just want to take her home.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Lancer said, but she was panting hard.

 _That last assault must have taken everything out of her,_ Archer realized.

The Servant grimaced. “I guess I have no other choice then.” She put her hands around her mouth, cupping it, and yelled out:

“Kodoku na Heaven!”

Another lightning bolt fell, this time next to the Servant. It was so bright this time around that Archer was forced to close her eyes. When she opened them, there was a tall creature standing proudly next to the girl. It resembled a llama… no, an alpaca.

The Servant hopped on top of the patiently waiting creature. “I’m sorry that it had to end this way,” she said. Then she, the creature, and Berserker were struck by a lightning bolt and, before Archer knew it, they all disappeared without a trace.

Archer slumped forward, feeling the burden of casting her Noble Phantasm finally catching up to her. A second later, she heard a thud as Lancer joined her on the ground.

* * *

 

Dia stood before Uranohoshi Girls’ High School for her second time that day. However, this time, she was not waiting for class to begin.

“As I expected, Caster or Mari, maybe even both of them, have set up a sophisticated Bounded Field. We won’t be infiltrating the school by force. It just simply isn’t happening.” Dia explained all of this as she and Saber began walking a short distance away, making their way to a vantage point. “That’s why we’re going to need your Noble Phantasm.”

Saber nodded. “If this is what it takes to win the Holy Grail War, I shall do it, Master, property damage and all.”

Dia glared at her. “Don’t give me lip.” She pulled out her cell phone and checked the clock once more. “Berserker should be buying us plenty of time. There should be no disturbances.”

“Master, do you really think…?”

“Yes, Saber, we’ve gone over this many times!” Dia snapped. “This is the only option, okay?! It’s kill or be killed in the Holy Grail War, and I fully intend to _not_ be killed! I have a wish that I need to fulfill!”

“Somehow, it is simultaneously the most selfless and selfish wish that I have ever come across,” Saber mumbled.

Dia raised her right hand up threateningly. “Do I need to use a Command Spell to force you to do this?”

Saber sighed. “No, Master.”

“Then. Do. It,” Dia said through gritted teeth.

Saber put her hand on the hilt of her sword and, with a single fluid motion, drew it and held it before her. It was a curved blade, Eastern European in origin. The knowledge from the Throne told her that this blade was a “shashka.” That’s all it was, a generic blade from her homeland, not a special, magical, or mythical blade with some deep connection to her.

Saber had not been very subtle with how much she disapproved of her Master’s plans. They were rash, unrefined, and uncontrollably dangerous. So many casualties could occur from this line of action and yet her Master just did not seem to care.

 _That wish of hers, she truly will do anything to make it come true._ Something told Saber that she would have been able to relate to her Master’s feeling if her memories were not so scrambled. As it were, all she could recall was a face: a soft smile, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes.

It was because of this total devotion that she had been summoned to her Master, so she could not exactly try to defy that very will which brought her here in the first place.

Still, these actions filled Saber with not shortage of regret.

_Well, seeing as my Noble Phantasm feeds on regret, I guess this can only help._

Saber began to concentrate, watching as the cold steel edge of her sword began to glow a radiant gold.

* * *

 

“Would you like some tea, Master?” Caster asked.

A pajama-clad Mari yawned and shook her head. “I’m fine as is, Caster. Good night.”

Caster looked around the office. “Are you sure that you’ll be comfortable sleeping on the floor? I can conjure you up a bed if you’d like.”

Mari shook her head. “I want that authentic sleepover experience. Here,” she said, patting the ground next to her futon, “sit and talk to me, Caster.”

Caster knelt down. “What exactly would you like to discuss?”

Mari put her hands on her stomach and stared at the ceiling. She lay there, quiet. Just as Caster thought she had gone to sleep, she said, almost too quietly to hear, “Caster, do you think I’m naive?”

Caster looked down at her. “What do you mean?”

Mari reached toward the ceiling, splaying her fingers. She looked intently at her five nimble digits, studying their shape. “I mean, do you think this plan is stupid?”

“It’s not my place to say.”

“But… do you?”

Caster considered it for a moment. She began slowly, choosing her words carefully. “Well… it may not be the most strategically sound.”

Mari chuckled. “If I cared about sound strategy, I won’t have summoned you.”

Caster smiles a bit. “I guess you’re right. In that case,” she began, stroking her fingers through Mari’s freshly-washed locks, “I believe that it is for the best that you are fighting with your own goal in mind.”

Mari slowly drifted off to sleep. It was comfortable. Despite the fact that she would need to stay in the school at all times during the duration of the Holy Grail War, she felt like everything would be okay. This was for the best, to keep everyone safe.

Caster’s fingers stopped. “Master.”

“Hmm?” Mari drawled, half asleep. “What is it?” She rolled over again. “Could you turn off the lights, Caster? It’s too bright to sleep.”

“Master!”

“Good night, Caster.”

“Master!” Caster roughly shoved Mari off the futon.

“What’s the deal, Caster?!” Mari snapped, cranky due to being rudely awakened. She then noticed it. It was bright in her office, far brighter than the ancient fluorescents should be able to shine. It felt hot in the room.

“Is that—?!”

Caster pressed her hand into Mari’s chest and smiled. “Well, this is where we part, Master.”

“What? No!” Mari raised her right hand. “I’m not leaving you!”

“Goodbye, Master,” Caster said. She smiled. “I pray that your wish comes true.” She pushed, making Mari begin to fall backward and uttered, “Junai Lens.”

Before Mari could activate her Command Spell, she found herself falling into a dark void.

* * *

 

“Avenger!” Chika cried out, running over to the fallen Servant. She looked her over. “Are you alright?”

Avenger rubbed her head, groaning. “Yeah, never better.” She tried to lift herself off the ground. “I just need to—” She was cut off as she stumbled over her own feet.

“Rest, it’ll be fine. Berserker’s gone.”

Avenger looked around. Sure enough, the orange-furred feline Servant was nowhere in sight. She then noticed both Archer and Lancer collapsed on the ground. She looked back at Chika. “What happened?”

Before Chika could respond, Avenger was distracted by a voice. “Over there!”

It was the girl who had been walking with Archer’s Master, the one with the strange bun on the side of her head. She was pointing off into the distance, in the direction of Uranohoshi. “What’s happening over there?!”

Avenger turned to see a brilliant golden light shining off in the distance. Her stomach dropped. _How…. Who?! But that’s…!_

* * *

 

Rider returned, carrying a heavily-injured Berserker in her arms. “Master, where is Master of Berserker?”

“Here, zura,” a soft voice mumbled from under her.

Rider looked down to see Hanamaru under Heaven’s Alpaca’s foot. “I’m so sorry!” she yelped, making her Phantasmal Beast move off of the small girl. “Are you alright?”

“She’ll be fine,” Ruby responded, helping Hanamaru back to her feet. “More importantly, look!”

Ruby stuck out her finger into the distance, at the glow of Saber’s Noble Phantasm charging up. She smiled. “Thanks to you two, Big Sis was able to go through with her plan.”

* * *

 

_A well of regret, a life of lies: those are what forge this golden blade. From here, we look back upon the choices not made, everything that makes us who we are today. A wish to go back and regain what we’ve lost. That is this blade._

_I'm sure that I would've been better off ignorant. Holding such pain in my chest, I smiled each day, not saying a word about it and told myself to forget._

_But now, I shut away my memories, crystalizing them into a light which will cleave through the darkness._

_And with that: heartbreak._

“Arifureta Kanashimi no Hate!”

An explosion of energy erupted from Saber’s blade, pure concentrated mana enveloping the space before her, evaporating everything in its path. It arced like a slash of the blade, flying through the air toward the school. As it approached, a faint transparent wall of gold and purple appeared. It resisted the Noble Phantasm for a second, straining against the impact, before popping like a bubble. And then, the wave of golden light hit the school.

The collision was blinding. Even Saber, superhuman and all, was forced to shut her eyes due to the sudden flash from the darkness. It was like a thousand sunrises all at once.

Slowly, the world returned to darkness.

Dia opened one eye cautiously, then both. She gazed upon the rubble that had once been her high school, admiring Saber’s handiwork. She turned to look at Saber and smiled.

“We did it!”

Saber solemnly nodded. “Yes, Master. Yes we did.”

“That was amazing, Saber! That power…. So that’s the power of the Saber class!” Dia stopped talking for a second and looked at Saber concerned. “Are you… crying, Saber?”

Saber put a hand to her cheek. It felt wet. “I guess I am,” Saber said shakily. “I don’t know why, but I guess I am.”

* * *

 

Ruby supported Hanamaru, getting under her arm and helping her across the road. “We’re almost there. Hold on just a little longer.”

Hanamaru nodded, too weak to even talk. She stumbled again. “I feel nauseous. I guess Berserker used her Noble Phantasm in that fight earlier.”

“Kururin MIRACLE? That means that she almost lost then.”

The two of them were heading to the temple, Hanamaru’s home. While normally it would be against the rules to appeal to the overseer without losing their Servants, this was a special case. Ruby was hoping that the overseer would act as a mother first and an officiant second. She would have to. Ruby wasn’t talented enough at spiritual healing to do what needed to be done.

“I’m home…” Hanamaru called out weakly when the two of them entered the residence area of the temple. It looked just the way she had left it: well-swept, neat, with nothing out of place. But something was wrong.

“Mom?”

Hanamaru was getting nervous. “Mom?” she called out again, a little louder this time.

Ruby was getting nervous too, but she kept it together. She had to, for Hanamaru’s sake. “Maybe she just stepped out.”

“At this time of night?” Hanamaru asked, doubt in her voice.

The two of them stayed silent for a moment.

“She’s probably just sleeping,” Ruby said, trying to reassure her friend.

Hanamaru nodded. “Let’s check her room.”

The two of them made their way to the back of the temple. Hanamaru stood in front of her mother’s bedroom door and pulled it open slowly. “Mom, are you awake…?”

She peered in and her eyes widened. “Mom!”

She stumbled onto the floor, crawling into the room. Ruby looked in too.

Red. A massive pool of red. Still wet, still fresh, meaning that this had just happened. And lying in the middle was Hanamaru’s mother.

“Mom!” Hanamaru screamed, turning the corpse onto its back.

A chill ran down Ruby’s spine. The front was completely impaled with thin silver knives. Ruby shakily walked over and tugged one out. It was long, with a blade that seemed to be designed for slicing rather than stabbing. It was a scalpel.

Hanamaru just fell onto her mother’s corpse, crying. “Mom…” she sobbed.

Ruby did not know what to do besides awkwardly pat her on the back.

* * *

 

Yoshiko watched awkwardly from the sidelines as her three upperclassmen tended to their Servants. What was she supposed to do? They had been doing all of the fighting while she had just stood there, unable to do anything. Maybe if Assassin were here….

Speaking of which, where was Assassin? She had not been there the entire time. Now that Yoshiko thought about it, she should probably drawn her over via Command Spell so that she could help out in the fight.

“Master,” a voice called from behind her.

 _Speak of the devil…_ Yoshiko thought. She turned. “What have you been?”

The Servant averted her gaze, staring at the ground to the right of her and playing with a lock of her red hair. “Doing… stuff.”

“What stuff exactly?”

“Just stuff, okay?”

Yoshiko put her hands on her hips. “Assassin, tell me what you’ve been doing.”

“I’ve just been doing stuff, okay?” Assassin snapped. “What’s up with you? I don’t get it!”

“Look, I just want to know what you’ve been up to. I should be allowed to know at least that much. I am your Master, after all.”

The two continued to argue, unaware of their surroundings. However, one person was listening in on their conversation.

“Did she just call her Servant ‘Assassin’?” Chika muttered to herself.

* * *

 

Kanan leaned over the railing. She just stared across the water, over at where Uranohoshi had once stood. The light was now long gone, but she knew that she had seen it and what it had meant.

 _So, Dia pulled it off,_ she mused. _There goes Mari’s dream, I suppose._

She kept pushing that thought out of her mind. The fact that Dia had used Saber’s Noble Phantasm on the school…. That had to mean that….

Kanan shook her head. _No, don’t think about it. Mari’s not—_

“Hey Master, how’s it going?”

Kanan turned. “Assassin, where have you been?”

The Servant shrugged. “You know, just doing… stuff.”

Kanan raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by ‘stuff’?”

“Just… tying up loose ends.”

Kanan sighed. She knew that she would not get anything out of Assassin. The Servant could be incredibly stubborn when she wanted to. She turned around again and looked out into the water. The calm waves always managed to soothe her.

She stared into the murky depths, contemplating where this Holy Grail War was going now. With one Master and Servant out of the mix, the floodgates had opened. The dream of a peaceful Grail War was dead. It had died with…. Kanan swallowed hard.

Something was bobbing up and down in the water. Kanan at first just assumed it was a piece of trash or driftwood. But then she squinted, allowing her to better make out the shape. Her eyes lit up with recognition.

“Assassin,” she said slowly, “draw up a bath. This will only take a moment.” And before the Servant could ask why, Kanan dove into the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is the one-year anniversary of this fic's publication! In that time it has grown to 20 chapters (21 with the prologue) and over 40k words. From just a small little idea in my head to about half a novel's worth of content. Thank you all for supporting me through this.  
> It seems fitting that, on this fic's first birthday, I would conclude the first story arc. The setup is over and the tone will get a lot darker from here on out. I hope you all stick with me through the rest of the story!  
> The idea of Eli's sword being a shashka came from a comment all the way back from Chapter 6 by Dobiesław.  
> As usual, if you want to read some of my original content, you can find a link to my site in my [bio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurtleGenetics/profile).


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